iiiiiiii'iiisiigiii;i? 




Classes 6^^^ 



/ 



ESSAYS 



/6/Q 



ON 



PEAT, MUCIv, 



AND 



COMMERCIAL MANURES, 



By SAMUEL W. JOHNSON, 

CHEMIST TO THE CONfNECTICUT STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY AND PROFESSOR OP 
ANALYTICAL AND AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY IX YALE COLLEGE. 



HARTFOKD: 

PUBLISHED BY BROWN & GROSS. 

1859. 



\ / - 
1 ^-> 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 

BROWN & GROSS. 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut. 



FRESS 

or 
WILLIAMS & WILEY. 



PKEFACE. 



In 1856 the writer attempted to turn liis chemical knowledge to tlie 
use of Agriculture, by examining the commercial fertilizers then offered 
for sale in the markets of Connecticut and New York. 

In a business having such prospects of extension as lay before the 
trade in manures, in a region where convenient markets largely coun- 
terbalance the disadvantages of poor and worn-out soils, it was to lie 
anticipated that frauds would arise, especially since it is so difficult or 
even in many cases impossible, to judge accurately of the quality of a 
fertilizer from its external characters. 

Chemistry which has done so much for all the practical arts during the 
last 50 years, and which has made possible the extensive useof artiiicial 
fertilizers, fortunately offers the firmer complete protection against every 
attempt to defraud him by worthless mixtures, sold under high-sounding 
names and forged certificates ; and although there is no scientific merit 
in analyzing manures, there is great practical use in saving the hard- 
toiling farmer from profitless and ruinous expenditures. 

In the year just mentioned, the writer pul:)lished in the Homestead a 
series of papers on the principal fertilizers then on sale in Connecticut. 
These articles excited much interest among the readers of that Journal, 
and at the Annual Meeting of the Connecticut State Agricultural 
Society, in Jan. 1857, the writer was invited to address that body upon 
" Frauds in Commercial Manures." It was then shown that gross de- 
ceit had actually been practised by parties soliciting the patronage of the 
farmers of this» State, and the great facilities for perpetrating further 
frauds were made the subject of a lengthened exposition. At that time 
the writer Vv-as commissioned on behalf of the State Agricultural Society 
to make chemical analyses of all commercial manures offered for sale in 
the State, and to report upon them tlirough the columns of the Hoviestcad. 
At the annual meeting of the Society in 1858, he presented his First 
Annual Report as Chemist to the Society, comprising the analysis and 
valuation of forty-three samples of commercial manures, with an uitro- 



dnction j^iviiig some general considerations on the nature and use of man- 
ures and followed by a preliminarj notice of an extended investigation 
into tlie agricultural merits of Peat and Muck, which was undertaken at 
tlie suggestion of Henry A. Dyer, Esq., the able Secretary of the Society. 

At the Executive Meeting of the State Society in 1859, a Second 
Annual Report was offered, which contained the completed investigation 
of Peat and Muck, together with analyses of such fertilizers as had been 
found in market during the previous year. 

This volume embodies these two Reports,* and consists of a series 
of disconnected essays, retaining nearly the form in which they were 
originally presented to the Society. 

The analyses of commercial fertilizers have been duplicated in most 
instances, in order to ensure entire accuracy, and the statement of re- 
sults has been accompanied with such explanations as appear adapted to 
facilitate their use. 

The methods of analysis are indicated in appendices, so that those 
A-ersed in such matters may judge of the reliability of the analytical ex- 
aminations. 

Tlie writer has had tlie gratification of finding his labors appreciated, 
not only by the State Society, which continues to appropriate the fund 
requisite for their prosecution ; but also by practical farmers, who point 
with satisfaction to instances in which they have been saved from loss 
b\' the contents of these pages. 

By demonstrating the immediate practical and pecuniary advantage 
which the Agriculturist may derive from Chemisttry, the writer hopes 
to excite more interest in this noble science, among those whom it is 
especially adapted to benefit ; being confident that it has but just begun 
to reveal its power, and if properly encouraged will in time become a 
most useful aid to the farmer in nearly every step of his yearly routine. 

SAMUEL W. JOHNSON, 
Anahjticctl Laboratory of Yale College^ New Haven, Ct., Ang. 18, 1859. 

* The first 58 pages are occnpied with the Keports made in the year 1S5T, (presented complete in 
January, ISoS), and now revised, and are referred to in the table of contents on page 5. The re- 
mainder of the book comprises investigations made in 1S5S, and has a separate t.ab!o of contents on 
imge 59. 



ESSAYS ON MANURES. 

1857. 



CONTENTS, 

FOR ESSAYS IN 1857, 



PAGE 

Introductory. — General Considerations on Manures, - - 7 

1. What are manures ? .-.---. 7 

2. How manures act, ....... 7 

I. As direct nutriment, ...... 7 

II. As solvents or absorl^ents, ..... 7 

III. They may improve the physical characters of the soU, - 8 

3. Exhaustion and renovation of the soil, - .... 8 

4. Comparative agricultural value of manures, .... 8 

5. What manures are most generally useful ? .... 10 
G. Uses of special or partial manures, ..... 10 

7. Comparative commercial value of manures, - - - -11 

8. Valuation of manures — substances to be regarded as commercially im- 

portant, - - - - - ' - - - 11 

9. Mechanical condition of manures, - - - - - 11 

10. Chemical condition of manures — actual and potential ammonia — solu- 

)jle and insoluble phosphoric acid, - - - - 11 

11. Pripes of the important ingredients of connncrcial fertilizers, - - 13 

I. Insoluble phosphoric acid, ..... 13 

II. Soluble phosphoric acid. • - - • - - 13 

III. Actual ammonia, - - - - • • 13 

TV. Potential ammonia, ...... 14 

V. Potash, ....... 14 

] 2. Potash may be usually neglected in valuing a manure, - ' - - 14 

13. Computing the approximate money value of concentrated fertilizers, 15 

14. Estimating the value of cheap manures, . . - - 16 

Examination of Commercial Manures. — Guano. - - IG 

1. Peruvian Guano, - - - - - - - 16 

2. Pacific Ocean Guano, - • - - - • -18 

3. Icliaboe Guano, - • • - - • - 19 
5. Baker's Island or American Guano. ..... 20 



11. CONTENTS. 

Pnga 

Superphosphates, - - - - - - 21 

Chemistrj' of the Phosphates of Lime, - - - - - 21 

Bone-Phosphate, ....... 2?> 

Neutral-Phosphate, --.--.-. 23 

Superphosphate, ....... 24 

Standard of composition of commercial superphosphates, - - - 20 

Mape's Superphosphate, .-."... 28 

Deburg.'s " ....... 29 

Coe's " ....... 29 

t^oe & Go's. "--.-.... :u 

Lloyd's •' ....... 31 

Rhodes' " ....... 32 

Other " ....... 33 

Columbian or Rock Guano, ...... 33 

Poudrette, - - - . - . - - - 38 

Liebig Manufacturing Go's., - . - - - ,44 

Lodi Go's., --...... 44 

Deburg's Bone Meal, ....... 46 

Ivory Dust and Turnings, - - - ' - - - - 47 

Beef Scraps, ........ 47 

Cotton-seed Cake — its agricultural value, - - - - - 47 

Peat and Muck — Preliminary Notice, - - - - - 52 

Appendix — Methods of Analysis, - - < - • .57 



INTRODUCTORY. 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON MANURES. 

1. What are manures. 

Manures are substances whicli are incorporated with the soil 
for the purpose of supplying some deficiency in the latter. How- 
ever numerous and different may be the materials which assist 
the growth of plants, judging them by their origin, external 
characters and names, chemistry has in late years demonstrated 
that they all consist of only about a dozen forms of matter, 
which will be specified below. 

2. Hoiu manures act. 

Manures may act in three distinct ways. 

I. They may enter the i^lant as direct nutriment. Carbonic acid, 
water, ammonia or nitric acid, sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, 
silica, ox3^d of iron, chlorine, lime, magnesia, potash and soda, 
are the elements of vegetable nutrition — the essential plant-food. 

In a fertile soil all these materials are accessible to the plant. 
If one of them be absent, the soil is barren ; if a substance that 
contains the missing body be applied to the soil, it makes the 
latter fertile. 

II. Manures may act partly as solvents, or absorbents, and thus 
indirectly supply food to the plant, e. g., lime, gypsum, salts of 
ammonia, &c. 

Soils are infertile not only from the absence or deficiency of 
some one or more of the above-named forms of plant food, but 
also for other reasons. The food of the plant must be soluble 
in water, so as thus to be transmitted into the plant as rapidly 
as needed. Soils are often unproductive because the stores of 
plant-food they contain are locked up in insoluble forms. Lime, 
guano, the products of the decay of vegetable matters, often fer- 
tilize a field merely by their solvent action on the soil. Gj'psum 
acts as an absorber or fixer of ammonia. 



8 

III. Manures improve the j^hysical character of the soil, i, e., 
make it warmer, lighter or heavier, more or less retentive of 
moisture, &c. Such are some manures that are often applied in 
large quantity, as lime, marl and muck. 

A soil is often barren, not because it has no supplies of nutri- 
ment for the plant, neither for the reason that those supplies are 
insoluble ; but because the soil itself is so wet or dry, so tenacious 
and impenetrable, or so light and shifting, that vegetation fails 
to find the physical conditions of its growth and j^erfection. 

Almost all our ordinary fertilizers exercise to a greater or less 
degree all these effects. Thus lime, on a clay soil, may, 1st., 
mechanically destroy the coherence and tenacity of the clay, and 
give it the friability of a loam ; 2d., chemically decompose the 
clav, making potash, soda, ammonia, &c., soluble, and, 3d, be 
directly absorbed and appropriated by the plant. 

3. Exhaustion of the soil hj croj'tjyirKj, and renovation by weath- 
er in j. 

Under cultivation there is removed from the soil by each crop, 
a greater or less quantity of plant-food. The stores of nutri- 
ment in the soil thus continually become smaller and smaller. 

By the action of the atmosphere (weathering,) assisted by pul- 
verization of the soil (tillage,) the insoluble matters of the soil 
are gradually made soluble and available to vegetation. 

There is thus constantly going on in the soil an exhausting, 
and as constantly, a renovating process. In most soils under 
ordinary cultivation, the exhaustion, or removal of plant-food, 
proceeds more rapidly than the supply by weathering. Such 
soils therefore tend to become unproductive. In a few cases, the 
solution of the materials of the soil itself goes on so rapidly that 
there is always present in them an excess of all the matters re- 
quisite to nourish vegetation. These soils are inexhaustible. 

To assist in maintaining the first class of soils in a state of 
productiveness, manures are employed. 

4. Comparative agricultural value of different fertilizers. 

It is obvious from the foregoing considerations that manures 
are required to exercise very different functions in different cases, 
according to the character of the soil, as determined by its ori- 
gin and by its previous treatment. The soil itself is constantly 



9 

clianging under culture, so that wliat is useful on my neighbor's 
soil that has been tilled and cropped for twenty years, may be 
quite valueless on mine which is just reclaimed from the forest. 
What benefits my soil this year may be of no perceptible advan- 
tage next year. 

In how far manure is needed for the special purpose of sup- 
plying the soil with food for vegetation, it is often difficult to de- 
cide. If a new and good soil is repeatedly cropped until it 
ceases to yield remunerative returns, it may be that addition of 
some one substance, lime, or potash, or sulphuric acid, will restore 
its fertility. It more often happens that several bodies are defi- 
cient ; but lohat is deficient can only be certainly learned by 
actual trial. In any special case that substance is most valuable 
as a manure, (in so far as the direct nutrition of the plant is con- 
cerned,) which is most deficient in the soil in accessible form. 

As regards the indirect action of manures, in virtue of their 
absorbent or solvent powers, and as regards their effects in me- 
liorating the texture and other physical characters of the soil, 
practical men have established certain rules, founded on extend- 
ed experience, which it is not needful to recapitulate here. 

Thus much is certain : that one fertilizing agent has no abso- 
lute and invariable superiority over another, for all are equally 
indispensable. The superiorty that any one manure may be 
reputed to possess, depends upon circumstances. Circumstances 
are exceedingly various and continually changing. The reputa- 
tion and local value of manures is equally various and changing. 

In some regions, as in certain districts of Pennsylvania, lime 
is considered the best manure. In numerous localities, j^^'-^ster 
(sulphuric acid and lime,) is chiefly depended upon. In some 
districts, superphosphate of lime ; in others, Peruvian guano is 
almost exclusively used. 

Among the substances essential to vegetation, there are some 
which almost never fail from the soil. Thus, oxyd of iron and 
silica are present in every soil. Lime and sulphuric acid may 
often be wanting. Potash and soda are not unfrequently de- 
ficient. Available ammonia and phosphoric acid are likewise 
often liable to exhaustion. 

Ammonia and phosphoric acid, which possess the highest 



10 

commercial value among fertilizers, have been considered by 
some wliose opinions are of weight in the agricultural world, to 
possess also a decidedly greater agricultural value than other 
manures. It is asserted that in the growth of certain crops, and 
in fact those crops which best remunerate the farmer, these sub- 
stances are most rapidly exhausted from the soil. Now it is un- 
doubtedl}^ true that on the soils of certain districts, and in certain 
courses of cropping, the application of ammoniacal and phos- 
phatic manures produces the most striking results ; yet it is by 
no means proved, or even probable, that on the whole, all soils 
and all systems of cropping included, these bodies arc oftener 
lacking, or oftener and more permanently useful, than some of 
the other fertilizing substances. 

5. What manures are tnost often and most generally useful ? 
While we can not accord to any simple manure, or to any 

single ingredient of a manure, a universal fertilizing su^^eriority, 
it is true that some manures are more useful than others, on ac- 
count of their compound nature. The more ingredients a ma- 
nure can supply to vegetation the more useful it is. Stable 
manure is the universal and best fertilizer, because it contains 
everything which can feed the plant. Swamp muck, straw, and 
veo-etable refuse generally, are of similar character. Fertilizers, 
like lime, plaster, salt, &c., which contain but a few ingredients, 
can not in general be depended upon for continuously maintain- 
ing the fertility of the soil. 

6. Uses of special or partial manures. 

Special manures, i. e., manures which contain some one or few 
ingredients, are of use, very rarely as the farmer's chief reliance, 
but often as adjuncts to stable manure. Several special ma- 
. nures may often be so combined as to make an effectual substi- 
tute for stable manure. In high-farming, and in market garden- 
ing, and generally where circumstances admit of raising the 
most exhausting crops without fallow, laying down to grass, or 
rotation of any sort, special manures are most advantageously 
employed. In ordinary mixed fjirming they are useful in assist- 
ino- to reclaim or improve poor lands ; but in the best practice 
they play as yet a very subordinate part, unless jDcculiar circum- 
stances make them extraordinarily cheaj). 



11 

7. Comparative commercial value of manures. 

The commercial value of a manure is measured by its price, and 
may be quite independent of its real agricultural value, tliougli 
it usually depends considerably on its reputed agricultural value. 
The scarcity of a substance, the cost of preparation and trans- 
portation, the demand for it on account of other than agricultur- 
al uses — all these considerations of course influence its price. It 
is commercially worth what the dealer can get for it, so much 
per bushel or ton. 

8. Yaluation of manures. — TT7;a^ substances are to he regarded as 
commercially important in costly manures. 

In any fertilizer which is sold as high or higher than half a 
cent a pound, there are but three ingredients that deserve to be 
taken account of in estimating its value. These are ammonia, 
phosphoric acid, and potash. Every thing else that has a ferti- 
lizing value may be more cheaply obtained under its proper 
name. If the farmer needs sulphuric acid he purchases gypsum ; 
if he needs soda, common salt supplies him. Every thing but 
these three substances may be procured so cheaply, that the far- 
mer is cheated if he pays ten dollars per ton for a manure, unless 
it contains or yields one or all of these three substances in con- 
siderable proportion. 

9. Ilechaniccd condition of Manures. 

Nothing is so important to the rapid and economical action of 
a manure as its existing in a finely pulverized or divided state. 
All costly fertilizers ought to exist chiefly as fine, nearly im- 
palpable powders, and the coarser portions, if an}'-, should be 
capable of passing through a sieve of say eight or ten holes to 
the linear inch. The same immediate benefits are derived from 
two bushels of bones rendered impalpably fine by treatment 
with oil-of- vitriol, ten bushels of bone-dust, and one hundred 
bushels of whole bones. Fineness facilitates distribution, and 
economizes capital. 

10. Chemical condition of manures — State of solubility, d-c. — Am- 
monia, potenticd and actucd — Phosphoric acid, soluble and insoluble. 

The solubility of a manure is a serious question to be consid- 
ered in its valuation. We are accustomed to speak of ammonia 
as existing in two states, viz : actual and jootenticd. By actual 



12 

ammonia, we mean ready-formed ammonia ; by potential ammo- 
nia, that wliicli will result by decomposition or decay — " that 
which exists in possibility, not in act." Now the former is al- 
most invariably soluble with ease in water, and is thus readily 
and immediately available to plants ; while the latter must first 
become "actual" by decay, before it can assist in supporting 
vegetation. 

In Peruvian guano, we have about half of the ammonia ready 
formed, and easily soluble in water, the remainder exists in the 
form of uric acid, which yields ammonia by decay in the soil, 
but may require weeks or months to complete the change. In 
leather shavings or woolen rags the ammonia is all potential, and 
as these bodies decay slowly, they are of less value than guano 
as sources of ammonia. Oil-cake, (linseed and cotton seed,) con- 
tains much potential ammonia, and in a form that very speedily 
yields actual ammonia. 

We do not know with what precise results the process of the 
decay of ammonia-^aelding bodies is accomplished in the soil. 
Out of the soil such bodies do not give quite all their nitrogen 
in the form of ammonia : a portion escapes in the uncombined 
state, and thus becomes unavailable. 

Phosphoric acid may occur in two different states of solubili- 
ty ; one readily soluble, the other slowly and slightly soluble in 
water. The former we specify as soluble, the latter as insoluble 
phosphoric acid. In Peruvian guano we find 8.5 per cent, of 
soluble phosphoric acid, existing there as phosphates of ammo-' 
nia and potash. The remaining 10 to 12 per cent, is insoluble, 
being combined with lime and magnesia. In most other manures, 
genuine superphosphates excepted, the phosphoric acid is in- 
soluble. 

Among those phosphates which are here ranked as insoluble, 
there exist great differences in their availability, resulting from 
their mechanical condition. The ashes of bones, and the porous 
rock-guano when finely ground, exert immediate effect on crops, 
while the dense, glassy, or crystallized phosphorite of Hurds- 
town, N. J., and the fossil bones (so-called coprolite of England,) 
are almost or quite inert unless subjected to treatment with oil- 
of-vitriol, (see page 31.) 



13 

11. The reasonahle ^^nce of phosi:)lioric acid, ammonia.^ and 
potash. 

I. Insoluhle phosphoric acid. — There are several substances now 
in market, wliicli, as fertilizers, are valuable exclusively on ac- 
count of their content of phosphoric acid ; which, moreover, are 
at present the cheapest sources of this substance that possess the 
degree of fineness proper to an active fertilizer. These sub- 
stances are the phosphatic guanos, (Columbian and American 
guano,) and the refuse bone-black of the sugar refineries. From 
them we can easily calculate the present lowest commercial value 
of phosphoric acid. If we divide the price per ton of Colum- 
bian guano, $35, by the number of pounds of phosphoric acid 
in a ton, which, at 40 per cent., amounts to 800 pounds, then we 
have the price of one pound as nearly 4i cents. 

Eefase bone-black may be had for $30 per ton ; it usually 
contahis 32 per cent, of phosphoric acid. The same division as 
above gives us 4f cents as the cost of phosphoric acid per pound. 

In this report I shall adopt the average of these figures, viz. : 
4^ cents, as the reasonable price of insoluble phosphoric acid. 

Phosphoric acid is much cheaper in crushed bones ; but this 
material is not in a suitable state of division to serve as tlie basis 
of a fair estimate. 

II. Soluble phosphoric acid. — This is nearly always the result 
of a manufacturing process. Professor Way, chemist to the 
Eoyal Agricultural Society of England, estimates its worth at 
10^ cents per pound. Dr. Voelker, of the Eoj^al Agricultural 
College of England, and Dr. Stoeckhardt, the distinguished 
Saxon Agricultural Chemist, reckon it at 12^ cents per pound. 
They have deduced these prices from that of the best commer- 
cial superphosphates. In this repoi't the price will also be as- 
sumed at 12|- cents. This, I believe, is considerably more than 
it is really worth, but is probably the lowest rate at which it can 
now be purchased. 

III. Actual ammonia. — The cheapest commercial source of 
this body is Peruvian guano. Although it contains several per 
cents, of potential ammonia, yet the latter is so readily converted 
into actual ammonia, that the whole effect of the manure is pro- 
duced in one season, and therefore we may justly consider the 
whole as of equal value with actual ammonia. 



14 

Good Peruvian guano contains : 

2 per cent, or 40 pounds per ton of potash. 

3 " " " 60 " " " soluble pliosphoric acid. 
12 " " " 240 " " " insoluble " " 

and yields 
16 " " " 320 " " " ammonia. 

If we add together the values of the potash, (see next page,) 
and of the phosphoric acid, soluble and insoluble, and subtract 
the same from the price of guano we shall arrive at the worth 
of the ammonia — as follows : 

40x4=$1.60; 60x 12i=$7.50; and240 x4*=$10.80; total 
$19.90. 

$65.00— $19.90=$45.10 the value of 320 pounds of amm.onia. 

$45.10-^320=14 cents nearly, the value of one pound. 

This price, 14 cents per pound, will be employed in this report. 

IV. Poiential ammonia. The value of this varies so greatly, 
being, for example, as uric acid in guano, not inferior to actual 
ammonia, while in woolen rags it is not worth more than one- 
half as much, that we can fix no uniform price, but must de- 
cide what it shall be, in each special case, separately. 

V. Pota.sk. The value of potash is difficult to estimate, be- 
cause it may vary exceedingly according to circumstances. Wood 
ashes are its chief sources ; these are poor or rich in potash ac- 
cording to the kind of tree that yields them, and the soil on 
which it has grown. It may vary from five to twenty per cent. 
Stoeckhardt, who estimates the value of ammonia at twenty 
cents, makes potash worth four cents per pound. The price of 
potashes can not serve as a guide, for they are never used for 
agricultural purposes. Four cents is certainly high enough for 
this country if it is correct for Germany. 

12. Potash may he usually neglected. 

Most concentrated manures contain very little or no potash. 
In gaano it rarely exceeds three per cent. Superphosphate of 
lime can contain none of consequence. Potash can not be econ- 
omically added to manufactured manures, because nearly pure 
potash, or even the raw material from which it is extracted, viz. : 
wood-ashes, has a higher commercial value for technical than for 
agricultural purposes. Besides, potash is not generally deficient 
in soils, and therefore farmers do not wish to pay for it as an in - 



jiT^^ 



15 

gredient of costly manures. It is only wlien a manure is pro- 
fessedly sold as containing much potash, that this ingredient 
deserves to be taken account of in its valuation. 

13. Gomiputing the money-value of concentrated manures. 
In what immediately precedes, is contained the data for calcu- 
lating approximatively the price that can be afforded for a high- 
priced manure, if we have before us the results of a reliable an- 
alysis. The actual calculation is very easy, and has been illus- 
trated already in deducing the value of ammonia from Peruvian 
guano. We give here a resume of the prices adopted in this 
report, viz. : 

Potash, per pound, 4 cents. 

Insoluble phosphoric acid, per pound, - - 4-| " 
Soluble " " " - - 121 u 

Actual, and some forms of potential ammonia, 1-1 " 
As a further example of the calculation, here may follow the 
details of the valuation of a superphosphate of lime. Analysis 
gave the following percentages : 

Actual ammonia, 2.39, say 2.4 

Potential " 1.06, " 1.0 

Soluble phosporic acid, - - - 2.56, " 2.6 

Insoluble " " ... 22.98, " 23.0 

Multiplying the percentage of each ingredient by its estimated 

price, and adding together the products thus obtained, gives the 

value of one hundred pounds ; this taken twenty times, gives us 

the worth of a ton of two thousand pounds. 

In the case before us, the quantity of potential ammonia is so 
small that we may reckon it with the actual ammonia without 
materially influencing the result. Thus, 

2.4 + 1.0 = 3.4; 3.4x14 = .48, value of ammonia in 100 lbs. 
2.6 X 12|-= .33, value of soluble phos. acid 
in 100 pounds. 

23 X. 04^ =$1.03, value of insol. phosphoric 
acid in 100 lbs. 



$1.84, total value of 100 lbs. 
20 



$36.80, value of one ton. 



16 

It is not claimed that this method of valuation is more than 
rough and approximate. Usually the price demanded is more 
than that obtained by calculation. In case of the superphosphate 
just mentioned, the selling price is $45. There is no doubt that 
it ought to be better for that money. The farmer must decide 
for himself whether he can get the same fertilizing materials 
more cheaply. K he cannot he may purchase such a super- 
phosphate. For comparing the luorih of different fertilizers this 
method of computation is of great value, as will be seen further 
on, where will be found tables giving the calculated values of all 
the high-priced manures that have come into my hands officially, 
during the last two years. 

It is but just to mention here, that this method of estimating 
the value of fertilizers was first proposed nine years ago by Dr. 
J. A. Stoeckiiardt, Professor of Agricultural Chemistry in the 
Eoyal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, at Tharand, near 
Dresden, in Saxony, and has been adopted in principle by the 
chemists of the agricultural societies in Great Britain. 

The estimates I made in 1856 were much lower than those 
now given. The price of manures has advanced since that time, 
(Peruvian guanos ten dollars per ton,) and the prices I then pro- 
posed for phosphoric acid were too small. All the estimated 
values in this report are founded on the prices just given. 

14. Estimation of the value of cheap manures. 

The method of valuation above described is not applicable to 
cheap manures, which contain but little ammonia or phosphoric 
acid. Their value often depends more upon the mechanical and 
chemical condition of their ingredients, than upon the quantity 
of any one. The few manufactured manures of this sort, may 
best be compared with some similar fertilizer of standard com- 
mercial value, viz. : stable manure, leached ashes, &c. Under 
the head Poudrette, examples will be given. 



EXAMINATION OF COMMERCIAL MANURES. 
GUANO. 
1. Peruvian Guano. — The manner in which the importation 



17 

and sale of this standard fertilizer Las been Litlierto conducted, 
is sucli as to afford a sufficient guarantee of its genuineness. 
But four samples have been analyzed. All were good, as shown 
by the following results : 



ANALYSES OF PEEUVIAN" GUANO. 



"Water, { 

Orp:anic Matter, j 

Ammouia poteiiial, 

" actual, 

Phosphoric acid, sol. in water, . 

" " insol. " 

Sand, &c., insoluble in aciils. 
Phosphate of lime equivalent jl^ 
to total phosphoric acid, J ' 



66.32 

5.82 
8.93 
4.69 
10.05 
1.69 



65.18 

5.95I 

9.08! 

3.64 

10.50 

1.521 



II. 



21.28 



12.63jl2.70 
52.27l51.46 

I6.O3I15.98 



1 15.19 



9 14.08 
2.451 2.66 
31.69 



III. 



68.00 
17.86 



68.70 
18.85 



_IV^ 
59.46 
16.32 



I. Came from the store of Wm. Kellogg, Hartford, 1856. 

II. " " " AVm. B. Johnson, New Haven, 1857. 

III. " » " Backus & Barstow, Norwich, 1857. 

IV. " " " C. Leonard, Norwalk, 1857. 

A Peruvian guano is genuinc'and good, when it contains 15 
per cent, of ammonia, and the same amount of phosphoric acid. 
The first analyses were made more complete than is necessary 
forjudging of the quality of this manure. It is sufficient, as in 
the last two analyses, to ascertain the amount of loss, (water and 
organic matter,) by burning, and the amount of ammonia. 

I believe the fact that guano may rapidly depreciate in quality 
by keeping, is not sufficiently thought of. In a note by Dr. 
Krocker, in a recent German Agricultural paper, it is stated that 
the loss in guano may amount to one-fifth or even one-fourth of 
the whole ammonia originally present, during a single ivinter, 
especially when access of moist air is alloived. If guano is kept 
dry and away from the air the loss is trifling. The ammonia of 
a genuine guano, although to a considerable extent " existing in 
possibility not in act," passes so readily into actual ammonia 
that it must be reckoned as such. The phosphoric acid also, in 
a Peruvian guano, is all in a readily soluble state, and it is not 
fair to make so great a distinction between the portions soluble 
and insoluble in water, as would be right in case of a manure 
which has been reduced to powder by mechanical means. 



18 



2. Pacific Ocean Guano. 



A^ 


rALYSES. 














I. 


II. 


Water, 


[36.24 

.75 
1.96 

2.27 

23.68 

2.75 


36.10 

.68' 

I.S4! 

2.77; 

20.91 

2_10! 


21.70 
32.35 

- 23.27 
.51 


21.44 


Oro'anic matter, 


32.33 


Ammonia potential, 




" actual, 


.58 


Phosphoric acid, soluble in water, 




" " insoluble in water, 


24.60 


Sand, &c., insoluble in acid, 


.57 


Phosphate of lime equivalent to total 
acid, average, 


phosphoric 


53.76 

$50.00 
$34.00 


51.86 


Dealer's price per ton, 




Calculated value per ton, 


$30.00 



I. From a sample sent by tlie importers to a dealer iii Hart- 
ford, 1856. 

II. From a sample sent by the dealers in New York to tlie 
agricultural store of Wm. B. Joliuson, taken from the bags by 
this gentleman in my presence. 

The sample 1. when sent into this State was advertised as 
nearly if not quite equal to Peruvian guano. In support of 
this statement the following certificate was given : "I have an- 
alyzed a sample of guano for Willet & Co., and find it to contain 
the following: 

Phosphate of lime, 42.48 

Carbonate " 2.26 

Urate of Ammonia, ) 

Phosphate " &c., [ 20.54 

Carbonate " ) 

Chloride of Sodium, ) 

" Potassium, I 14.46 

Sulphate of Soda, &c., ) 

Undecomposed organic ) o c)a 

matter, feathers, &c., \ 

Silicious matter, 5.10 

Water and loss, 12.00 



100.00 
James Chilton, M. D., Chemist." 
New York, October 4th, 1854. 

The above analysis has a very elaborate appearance, but does 
not instruct us as to the value of the sample analyzed by Dr. 



19 

Chilton. In fact, it is eminently adapted to deceive ; it gives 
the impression that the substance in question contains 20.5 per 
cent, of ammonia salts, yet without actually asserting that it 
contains even 1 per cent, of ammonia. Calculation shows that 
so far from being "nearly if not quite equal to Peruvian guano," 
it is not worth so much by $31 per ton, and that $16 was charged 
for it above its real value. 

The second sample analyzed last summer, is still poorer. In 
calculating its value, I have admitted it to contain the same 
amount of soluble phosphoric acid that was found in I. This 
ingredient was not determined and is probably less than thus 
admitted. 

3. IcJiahoe Guano. I quote the analj^sis and history of this 
manure from my investigations made in 1856, in order to show 
what sort of impositions have vanished from the State of Con- 
necticut since a chemical scrutiny has been exercised over our 
fertilizers. Ten years ago a very good guano was obtained from 
the Ichaboe islands, containing 7 per cent, of ammonia, and 15 
per cent, of phosphoric acid ; worth therefore now, about $35 
per ton. In 1851 the deposits were exhausted. In 1856 it was 
announced that there was a new arrival of this superior guauo^ 
and it was offered in New York at $40 per ton. An authentic 
sample was procured at the store of the agent, A. Longett, in 
New York City, and subjected to analysis. 

It had a very unpromising appearance, and contained some 
feathers, together with much coarse sand and gravel. Several 
pounds were rubbed in a mortar to break down any soft liimps, 
and then were shaken on a sieve of sixteen holes to the linear 
inch. 

89.1 per cent, passed the sieve. 
9.-1 " coarse sand and gravel. 
1.5 " feathers remained. 



100.0 

This fine portion was analyzed as usual. The results were 

calculated on the whole, including the 9.'1 per cent, of sand and 

gravel, under the item "sand and insoluble matters," and the 

feathers under "organic matter." To the potential ammonia 

2 



20 

found in tlie fine guano, was added 0.2 per cent, as the greatest 
amount tliat could be yielded by the feathers. 

Analysis of Ichciboe Guano. 
Water and organic matter, . . . 17.43 18.52 

Ammonia potential, . . . 1.37 1.41 

" actual, .... 1.53 1.51 

Phosphoric acid, .... 6.97 7.64 

Sand and matter insoluble in acid, . . 65.72 63.87 

Phosphate of lime equivalent to total phosphoric 

acid, average, .... 15.82 

Dealer's price, $40. 

Calculated value, $15. 

This is the only manure I have examined that contained 65 
per cent, of sand and gravel. 

4. BaJver^s Island or American Guano. — The specimen of this 
guano furnished me by Mr. Secretary Dyer, is of excellent 
mechanical condition, and gave results essentially agreeing with 
those of Dr. Higgins and Dr. Gale, viz : 
Water, organic and vegetable matters, 
Insoluble matters, sand, 

Phosphoric acid, .... 

Ammonia, ..... 
Phosphate of hme equivalent to phos. acid. 

Calculated value, $34.50 

It thus appears that the above is an excellent quality of phos- 
phatic guano. So finely divided is the phosphate of lime that 
it must be dissolved with sufficient rapidity, in any moderately 
retentive soil, and if it can be had at $35 per ton, I should not 
hesitate to use it in preference to any superphosphate or other 
phosphatic manure now in our market. It can not, however, 
produce the remarkable effects of Peruvian guano, or of other 
ammoniacal manures, whose efficacy depends greatly on their 
ammonia.* 

* Analyses made during the present year demonstrate that what is now sold in 
this State as American Guano, is a very inferior article containing but 7.9 per cent, 
of phosphoric acid, and chiefly consisting of sulphate of lime. 

S. W. J., 1859. 



11.97 


11.70 


.10 


.17 


88.16 


38.63 


.68 




83.36 





21 



SUPERPHOSPHATES. 



The maniiflicture of manures bearing the general designation 
of Superphosphate of Lime., first begun in this country about five 
years ago, and has rapidly extended. As was to be expected, 
they have proved highly useful in very numerous instances, and 
when well prepared are to be looked to as the best means of 
supplying phosphoric acid to crops. There is, however, no oth- 
er fertilizer which so easily admits of adulteration or fraud, as 
this, and none whose real value is so difficult to determine. 
Simple inspection or any other means short of a thorough and 
costly analysis, furnishes not the slightest clue to its genuineness 
and excellence. 

There is so much confusion with regard to the different phos- 
phates of lime, arising mainly from the great variety of names 
that have been applied to them, that perhaps it will be a service 
to many of the readers of this report, to set forth the chemistry 
of this subject in a few words. For this purpose I copy from 
my published articles. 

Cliemistry of the Phosphates of Lime, 

The reader will j^lease bear in mind, that phosphate of lime is 
in chemical language a salt : which means — in a chemical sense 
be it remembered — a compound of two classes of bodies, the 
one called acids., the other bases. 

These bodies follow the universal natural laws of comlination 
in definite 2)roportions, and the numbers expressing these propor- 
tions, are termed equivalents. 

We can best illustrate this with a body like sulphate of lime, 
(plaster of Paris, gypsum,) which is a salt consisting of but one 
acid, and one base, and but one equivalent of each. 
The acid is sulphuric acid., its equivalent is 40 
The base is lime., its equivalent is 28 

The salt is sulpliate of lime, its equivalent is 68 
The above becomes intelligible when it is considered that in 
every specimen of pure gypsum that has ever been examined, 
the lime and sulphuric acid are present in exactly the propor- 



22 

tions indicated by the numbers 40 and 28, and it has been proved 
a hundred times, that when lime and sulphuric acid are brought 
together in such circumstances that they can unite, they always 
do unite in the above proportions. • This is what is meant by 
the law of definite proportions. 

The word equivalent simply means that 28 parts by weight, 
grains, pounds, &c., of lime, are equal to, or go as far, in making 
a salt, as 40 grains, pounds, &c., of sulphuric acid. 

Unlike sulphuric acid, (one equivalent of which usually com- 
bines with but one equivalent of a base,) one equivalent of phos- 
phoric acid usually unites with three equivalents of base ; and 
these three equivalents may be all of one base, or two of one 
base and one of another, or, finally, may be all of different ba- 
ses. What is most remarkable is, that ivater may act as a base ; 
but it is not customary to allow the water to figure in the name 
of the compound ; and in this way, the three phosphates that 
contain lime and water as the basic ingredients, are all called 
phosphates of lime. They are distinguished from each other by 
a variety of prefixes, unfortunately numerous, and none of which 
are strictly in accordance witli the general principles that regu- 
late -chemical name-making. 

The constitution of these three phosphates of lime may be 
represented as follows : 

The first is phosphoric acid (72), lime (28), lime (28), lime (28). 

The second is phosphoric acid (72), lime (28), lime (28), water (9.) ■ • 

The third is phosphoric acid (72), lime (28), water (9), water (9.) 

The equivalents are given with each ingredient, and by adding 
them together we find the equivalent of each phosphate. 

The 1st, 72 of acid, and 84 of base, is 156. 
The 2d, 72 " " and 65 " " is 137. 
The 3d, 72 " " and 46 " " is 118. 

What is the use of these equivalents ? may be asked. In 156 
parts (ozs. or lbs.) of the 1st are 75 parts, (ozs. or lbs.) of phos- 
phoric acid: in 137 parts of the 2d, and in 118 parts of the 8d, 
is the same quantity. A simple operation of "rule of three," 
will reduce these quantities to percents, and thus we may more 
readily compare their composition. 



1 


2 


3 


46.15 


52.55 


61.02 


53.85 


40.88 


23.73 




6.57 


15.25 



23 

Percent composition of the pliospliates of lime. 

Phosplioric acid, 
Lime, 
Water, - 

100.00 100.00 100.00 

With regard to the names of these phosphates, I have already 
hinted that much confusion exists. 

To No. 1 have been applied the names, neutral, basic, ordi- 
nary, tri-, and bone-phosphate. To No. 2, bi-, di-, and neutral 
phosphate. To No. 3, mono-, bi-, acid, and superphosphate. 

No. 1, we may designate as bojie-phosjjhate of lime, because it 
is the chief earthy ingredient of bones, or at any rate it remains 
when bones are burned, and constitutes the larger share of bone- 
ashes. It is almost absolutely insoluble in pure water; but dis- 
solves perceptibly in water containing in solution salts of am- 
monia, or common salt, or carbonic acid. It is also the principal 
ingredient of the so-called mineral phosphates, — of Apatite, that 
occurs abundantly in the iron mines of northern New York, of 
the Eupyrchroite of Crown Point, and the Phosphorite of Estra- 
madura in Spain, and of Hurdstown, New Jersey. In the fossil 
bones, the so-called Coprolites of certain districts in England, and 
in the phosphatic nodules of the silurian rocks of Canada, a va- 
riable quantity of bone-phosphate of lime is contained. The 
phosphoric acid of all the genuine guanos exists mostly in com- 
bination with lime as bone-phosphate. 

No. 2, most commonly called the neutral phosphate of lime, 
deserves notice as occurring mixed with bone phosphate in the 
Columbian guano, and in the similar phosphatic guanos recently 
imported by the Philadelphia Guano Company. It will be no- 
ticed further on. 

The agricultural value of phosphoric. acid, and of the phos- 
phates of lime is sufliciently understood. To them, bones main- 
ly owe their efficacy as a fertilizer. It is well known that, al- 
though bones are highly useful when applied to the soil in a 
coarsely-broken state, they are far more valuable if reduced to 
small fragments, or better still, if ground to dust. This is be- 



24 

cause notliing can enter tlie plant in a solid form. All tliat a 
crop absorbs tlirougli its roots must be dissolved in the water of 
the soil. The bone-phosphate of lime is only slightly soluble in 
water, and is of course very slowly presented to the plant. The 
more finely it is divided or pulverized, the more surface it expo- 
ses to the action of water and the more rapidly it dissolves. By 
grinding it is only possible to reduce bones to a gritty dust, fine 
perhaps to the unaided eye, but still coarse, when seen under the 
microscope. Chemistry furnishes a cheap means of extending 
the division to an astonishing degree, and enables us to make 
bone-manure perfect both in its mechanical and chemical quali- 
ties. 

This brings us to No. 3, or superphosphate of lime, which is 
the characteristic ingredient of the genuine commercial article 
known by that name, in which, however, it is largely mixed 
with other substances. Its peculiarity is, ready solubility in 
water. It may be prepared from either No. 1, or No., 2, by 
adding to these phosphoric acid, or by removing lime, in pres- 
ence of water. In practice lime is removed. 

If to 156 parts (one equivalent) of bone phosphate of lime, 
we add 80 parts (two equivalents) of sulphuric acid,* with suf- 
ficient water to admit of an intimate and perfect mixture, then 
the 80 parts of sulphuric acid take 56 parts (two equivalents) of 
lime and form sulphate of lime, while the phosphoric acid re- 
tains 28 parts (one equivalent) of lime, and 18 parts (two equiv- 
alents) of water replace the lime removed by the sulphuric acid, 
so that there results 136 parts of sulphate of lime, and 118 parts 
of superphosphate. 

The manufacture of good superphosphate of lime, consists es- 
sentially in subjecting some form of bone-phosphate of lime — 
it may be fresh or burned bones, mineral-phosphates or phos- 
phatic guanos — to the action of sulphuric acid. The product of 
such treatment contains sulphate of lime, superphosphate of lime, 
and still a greater or less share of undecomposed bone-phosphate, 
together with some free sulphuric acid, because the materials 
can not be brought into such thorough contact as to ensure com- 
plete action. 

* Oil of Vitriol is a compound of about 15 per cent, of sulphuric acid, with 25 
per cent, of water. 



25 

The reader can easily perform a simple experiment that illus- 
trates the change which superphosphate of lime, or any soluble 
phosphate, always undergoes when brought into the soil. Stir 
a spoonful of superphosphate in a tumbler of water ; let it settle 
and then pour off the clear liquid into another tumbler, (if no 
superphosphate is at hand, use instead of the liquid just men- 
tioned, strong vinegar in which some bits of bones have stood 
for a few days.) Now stir a few lumps of salteratus or soda, in 
water, and pour it gradually into the first liquid. Immediately 
a white cloud, or j^^'ccipikde, as the chemist calls it, is formed; 
at the same time the liquid will foam like soda water, from the 
escape of carbonic acid gas. 

This white cloud \^ ]DrecipLtat€d hone-plwsphate of lime, and does 
not essentially differ from the original bone-phosphate, except 
that it is inconceivably finer than can be obtained by any me- 
chanical means. The particles of the finest bone-dust will not 
average smaller than one hundredth of an inch, while those of 
this precipitated phosphate are not more than one twenty-thou- 
andth of an inch in diameter.* 

Since the particles of the precipitated phosphate are so very 
much smaller than those of the finest bone-dust, we can under- 
stand that their action as a manure would be correspondingly 
more rapid. 

In fact, the application of superphosphate to the soil, is always 
speedily followed by the formation of this preci|)itated phosphate ; 
the iron, lime, potash, &c., of the soil, having the same effect as 
that produced by the salajratus or soda in the above experiments. 

The advantage of dissolving, or rather acting upon bones with 
sulphuric acid, is then, not to furnish the plant with a new food; 
but to present an old dish in a new shape, more readily accessi- 
ble to the plant. In addition to the advantage of sxib- division 
thus presented, another not less important is secured ; viz : dis- 
trihutlon. This may be illustrated as follows: If one part of a 
quantity of superphosphate be mixed with chalk, lime, or ashes 
before use, while another portion is directly applied, in both ca- 
ses precipitated phosphate will be furnished to the soil. The 

* Prof. Ogiiex N. Rood, of the Troy University, has had the kindness to meas- 
ure them under the microscope at my request. 



26 

suh-division will be equal, but the distrilution will be unlike. In 
tlie first case, the ready -formed phosphate is very imperfectly 
mixed with the soil, by the mechanical operations of tillage. . In 
the latter instance, if the superphosphate be scattered on the 
surface, it is unaffected until a rain falls upon it. Then the su- 
perphosphate dissolves, and trickles or soaks down into the soil, 
meeting here with a particle of lime or potash, and depositing 
a particle of bone-phosphate, traveling on a little way, and de- 
positing another, and so filling the whole soil to a certain depth 
with the precious fertilizer. 

It seems then that it is important not only that the super- 
phosphate be onade, but that it remain such, until strewn on the 
soil. 

I would suggest that the simplest, and for agricultural pur- 
poses, the most accurate way of designating the j^hosphates of 
lime, and all other phosphates, is to divide them into two classes, 
soluble and insoluhle, and always to base calculations on the 2)hos- 
phoric acid they contain, because it, and not lime or water, is the 
valuable ingredient of them all. Accordingly, in all my an- 
alyses, I have invariably stated separately the amount of phos- 
phoric acid soluble in water and the quantity insoluble in that 
vehicle of vegetable nutriment. 

For the sake of comparison with the common standards, the 
quantity of bone phosphate equivalent or corresponding to the 
phosphoric acid, has been included in the analytical tables. The 
amount of bone phosphate of lime is obtained by multiplying 
the phosphoric acid by 13 and dividing the product by 6, 

What ought to be accepted as the .'<fahdard of composition in a com- 
mercial supcrpiliospJiate ? 

The answer to this question is: as good an article as can be 
manufactured on the large scale. 

There are two classes of good superphosphates. One is repre- 
sented by the following analysis made by me in 1852, on what 
then was Mapes' improved supei'phosphate : 

Ammonia, . . - . . 2.78 
Soluble phosphoric acid, - - 10.66 

Insoluble " " - - 10.17 



27 

Here we have 21 per cent, of pliosplioric acid, one-lialf of 
wbicli is soluble in water. The proportion of soluble phosphoric 
acid is sufficiently large for a quick and energetic action, while 
the still insoluble phosphoric acid renders its effect more lasting. 
The 3 per cent, of ammonia is a constituent^ which makes the 
manure more generally useful than it would be otherwise. Such 
a manure is worth as follows : 

Ammonia 3 per cent x 14 =$0.42 x 20= $8.40 

Soluble phos. acid, 11" " xl2i= 1.37ix20=$27.50 
Insoluble " 10 " " x 4^= 0.45 x20= $9.00 

Total value, $44.90 

This sample is the only one of its- class that has hitherto fallen 
into my hands. 

The other kind is, strictly speaking, a superphosphate, con- 
taining but little insoluble phosphoric acid, and no ammonia. It 
is precisely what it is called, and is intended to be an adjunct to 
other fertilizers. The following statement of composition and 
worth — the average of four best English samples, according to 
Prof. "Way's analyses — gives an idea of this manure : 

Soluble phosphoric acid, 13.23, worth per ton, $33.20 

Insoluble " " 3.07, " " $2.80 



Total value, - $36.00 

The only specimen of such a superphosphate that I have 
analyzed, is that made by B, M. Ehodes & Co., of Baltimore, 
Maryland. 

Besides these two classes of superphosphates, there is another, 
which indeed includes many good manures, but they hardly de- 
serve to be called superphosphates, as they contain but two or 
three per cent, of soluble phosphoric acid. They are., however, 
called superphosphates, but we cannot admit that they are any 
thing better than second-rate articles. 

In stating the composition and value of the superphosphates I 
have examined, I shall class together those coming from the same 
maniiflicturer, or otherwise such as most nearly agree in com- 
position. This plan will enable us to trace the improvement of 



28 



deterioration in tlie manufacture, when numerous samples liave 
been examined, and, otherwise, will facilitate comparison. 

Ma'pes' Su2)erplios2:)hate — Newark, New Jersey. 

The best superphosphate that has ever come under my exam- 
ination, was the one that is first given in the table below. The 
sample analyzed in 1856 had but half the value of the first ; and 
in 1857 the three specimens analyzed are worth but one-third as 
much. It is clear that this is a brand not to be depended upon, 
and the material that has come into Connecticut the past year is 
hardly worth a long transportation. 







Mapes 
I. 


' Improved. 
II. 


Mapes' Nit 
III. 


rogenized. 
IV. 


V. 




er. 


1852. 


1857. 


1856. 


1857. 


1857. 


Water, 

Organic and vol. mat 

Sand and matters 

insol. in acids. 
Lime, 


4.54 
22.96 

1.48 


7.90 
15.04 

13.90 

28.08 


U3.24 
6.20 


42.72 
6.57 


41.68 

7.76 


11.15 
18.65 

16.91 

23.55 


21.61 

26.29 

4.18 


Sulphuric acid. 
Carbonic acid, 
Pho.s. acid soluble, 
" " insoluble, 




none 
10.65 
10.17 


6.54 
none 
13.56-13.20 


1.12 
9.18 


none 
1.07 
9.11 


0.58 
10.12 


7.52 

none 
10,19-9.60 


2.38 

none 

9.85 


Ammonia actual, 
" potential, 


[ 


2.78 


1.16 


1.54 
2.11 




1.48 
2.16 


i2.28 


1.16 


Phos. lime equiva- 
lent to plios. acid, 
Calculated value, 


f 


45.11 

$44. 


28.99 

|$15 


av. 


22.4^ 

%2l. 


L 


21.43 

$14.50 


21.34 
$12.50 



I. Furnished by Edwin Hoyt, Es^., New Canaan, Ct, 

II. From store of Backus k Barstow, Norwich, Ct. 

III. From a Hartford dealer. 

IV. From store of Backus & Barstow, Norwich, Ct., average 
from many bags. 

V. From C. Leonard's store, Norwalk, Ct. 
Mechanical state mostly good. 



29 

Dehuirjs Sit2-)er phosphate — AVilliamsburg, Brooklyn, L. I. 

The sample analyzed in 1856 was of a very fair quality. 
The last year it is seen, however, that there is a serious falling 
off. 



"Water, organic and volatile matters, 
Sand and matters insoluble in acids, 
Phosphoric acid soluble in water, 

" " insoluble " 

Ammonia actual, 
" potential, 

Phosphate of lime oquiv. to phosphoric acid, 

Calculated value. 



Deburg's Superphosphate. 



I. 

1852. 



8.45 

5.96 

14.37 

1.381 



II. 

1856. 



III. 
1857. 



27.65 2G.24 ' 24.57121.23:1 25.20 



8.80 



15.78 



av. 45.5G 

$32. 



6.89 
2.5G 
22.98 
2.39 
LOG 



7.371 

2.4G 

22.53: 

2.25j 

1.24 



.51 

17.61 

1.44 



54.74 ji 39.26 
$36.25 ii $21.50 



I. From the agricultural store, New Haven, Ct. 
II. From the factory — taken from a heap in my presence. 
III. From Messrs Backus & Barstow, Norwich — sample made 
up by taking a spoonful from each bag of a large lot. 
Mechanical condition, good. 

Cbe'5 Superphosphate — Middletown, Ct. 

This fertilizer, manufactured in Connecticut, has been sub- 
jected to pretty severe scrutiny, and has maintained a good de- 
gree of uniformity in composition. The variations are perhaps 
not greater than are necessarily incidental to the manufacture. 



30 







M 


CI 


05 


r- 


'J* 










fC 


CD 


»— 1 


-t— 












G5 


CO 


(M 


o 


CO 


_ CD 


IC 




00 


e<i 






e>j 




!M 


> 


o 


f- 


1:- 


rl 


00 


CO 


r-< 


in 


ir- 




l-H 


o 










oi 


m 


C^ 


^ 


CO 




•^ 






(M 






<M 













o 

CO 




C5 

to 


09 


00 






>^ 


CO 


in 

CO 




(M 


CD 


C<l 


CO 

5< 


in 


o 

05 


o 
in 


CO 
in 


CO 


C5 
CD 


^ 






CO 


Tt< 


C<1 


CD 


C^ 







l-H " 







o 


CO 




00 


CD 
CD 


CO 
CO 






>^ 


to 
in 

00 


00 

CO 


CO 


CO 


ji- 


^ 


I— 1 


CD 


1— ( 


M 


CO 

in 


>n 


m 


in 


O 

m 


in 

in 


^ 






CO 


CO 


CO 


i-i 


I— 1 


l-H 











CO 


CD 


in 

I:- 


CO 
CO 


CO 
CO 


in 

05 






t-i 


CD 

in 

CO 


o 


M 


CO 


CD 


■-^ 




in 

CO 


CO 


>—> 


C-1 


CD 
CO 


in 
CO 


<M 


in 

CD 


OO 
C<1 


<fi- 






o 


CO 


-* 


CD 

1—1 


?-i 


'-' 











o 


o 

<D 


CJ 




1— 


O 
O 




m 
(>> 

CO 

CO 


t-I 


CD 

in 

00 


in 

CO 


IM 


'^t* 


CO 


^ 


^ 


m 

CO 




CD 
CO 


C5 


o 


CD 

o 


in 


CO 

in 






m 

CO 


C-l 


CO 


a> 


r-H 


'-' 









i^- 


!— 1 


j?- 


o 


1^- 


C-1 








CO 


CO 


-* 


oo 


O 


in 


CO 




•^ 00 


CO 


CD 


CO 


CD 


(M 


r-i 


Jr- 


o 


l:~ 


1:- 


C5 


<M 


X— 


CO 


'"'' 


^ 


05 


co 


(M 


"-I 


"i* 


> 




c4 


in 


CO 


CD 


<M 


rH 

























3 0) --£ 



m •-< — H 



^ 



m Ph 



(h 



81 

I., II., III., IV. From the agricultural stores of New Haven 
and Hartford. 

V. From store of Backus and Barstow, Norwich, Ct. 

VI. and VII. From Henry Hull, Esq., Naugatuck, Ct. 
Mechanical condition uniformly good. 

Coe & Coni'pamjs Super pliospliate — Boston, Mass. 

This manure, furnished by Henry Hull, Esq., of Naugatuck, 
Ct., is of a grayish white color, and is in good mechanical con- 
dition. Its analysis resulted as follows : 

Water, organic and volatile matters, - - 26.70 26.19 

Sand and insoluble matter, - - - 7.15 6.79 

Soluble phosphoric acid, - - - none 

Insoluble " " . . . 19.98 20.27 

Potential ammonia, - - - - 3.06 

Phosphate of lime equivalent to phos. acid, av., 43.59 

Calculated value, $26.50. 

This manure is wrongly named.* It is a good bone-manure 
at $30 per ton. 

L'loycVs Superpliospliate — Providence, R. I. 

This fertilizer I believe enjoys a good reputation as compared 
with other similar manures. Its texture is fine. It is apparently 
made from unburned bones. Its composition is as follows : 
Water, organic and volatile matters - - 42.15 42.48 

Sand and insoluble " - - 7.00 5.20 

Lime, 20.61 19.50 

Sulphuric acid, - - - - 11.80 

Soluble phosphoric acid, . . . 5.53 



Insoluble u u . . . ^^^^ c 15.50 

Potential ammonia, . - . . £.48 2.55 

Phosphate of lime, equivalent to phos. acid, av., 35.14 
Calculated value, $31. 

The proportion of soluble phosphoric acid is considerably 
above the average. The total amount is however small. 

* I have since learned that this sample was mis-labelled. Messrs. Coe & Co., sell 
it as "Steamed Bone." S. w. j. 



82 

Eliodes' Superphosphate — Baltimore, Md. 

In my address before the State Agricultural Society a year 
ago, I made mention of Eliodes' superpliospliate to illustrate a 
common fault in tlie analysis of commercial manures, viz : cal- 
culating or inferring a result from insufficient grounds, instead 
of actually deciding the matter experimentally. An analysis 
of this manure was quoted from the proprietor's circular, where- 
in the total amount of phosphoric acid is estimated, and from 
the quantity of sulphuric acid present is inferred the proportion 
of soluble phosphoric acid. I stated that doubtless a fuller anal- 
ysis would demonstrate that the amount of the soluble j^hos- 
phoric acid was considerably smaller than represented. 

The sample with which I have been furnished by Mr. Dyer 
gave the following results in three anah' ses : 

Water, organic and volatile matters, 

Insoluble matters, sand, &c.. 

Lime, ...... 

Soluble phosphoric acid, 
Insoluble " " - 

Total " " - 

Potential ammonia, ... 

Phosphate of lime equivalent to phosphoric acid, 
Calculated value, $32.25. 

The variation in the analytical results is due to the difficulty 
of averaging the manure. When rubbed in a mortar it becomes 
slightly pasty and can not be very thoroughly intermixed. 

The mechanical condition of this superphosphate is unexcep- 
tionable. 

In a new edition of their circular, Messrs. Ehodes k Co. pub- 
lish analyses and report made by Drs. Higgins and Bickell, ac- 
cording to which this superphosphate contained, in four samples 
respectively, the following amounts of phosphoric acid : 

12 3 4 5 

Soluble phosphoric acid, - - • 14.32 IG.Ol 11.73 17.56 11. GO 

Insoluble " " . . none. 1.49 none. 1.23 3.87 

Total, ..... 14.32 17.49 17.73 18.78 15.47 

4 Is the statement made in their circular which I read last 
year before this Society. 5 Is the average result of my own ac- 



27.60 


27.73 


Av 

2G.60 


erage. 
27.31 


3.22 


2.47 


10.05 


5.24 


20.13 


20.25 




20.19 


12.13 


11.65 


11.03 


11.60 


3.91 


3.77 


3.94 


3.87 


1C.04 


15.42 


14.97 


15.47 


.24 


.24 




.24 
38.80 



33 

tual determinations. It is seen tliat tlie statement in my address 
is confirmed, in case of tlie sample I analyzed. At tlie same 
time, tlie difference is not seriously great. 

In tlie analyses of Messrs. Iliggins and Bickell, several per 
cent of soda are given. I have not taken tlie trouble to estimate 
this ingredient, whick has no significance in case of an expen- 
sive fertilizer. 



Other Superph osjyh ales. 



Water, organic and volatile matters, 

Sand and insoluble " 

Lime, 

Sulphuric acid, 

Soluble phosphoric acid, 

Insoluljle " " 

Potential Ammonia, 

Phosphate of lime, equivalent to phosphoric acid 
Calculated value, 



Wallingford, Ct. 

I. 
1857. 



48.30 
8.98 



48.05 
8.78 



10.G7 
2.02 I 
9.72 S 
7.35 

21.34 
$34.50 



12.00 
6.92 



Buck's bone super- 

Iihosphate, 

llartl'urd, Ct. 



II. 

1857. 



51.59 

.60 

20.53 

■ 14.25 



51.46 

.98 

20.36 



2.50 

30.79 

S31.00 



14.17 
2.54 



I. This was furnished me by Mr. Parmelee of New Haven. 
It contains much potential ammonia in the form of gelatine, but 
the material is so poorly pulverized, consisting of coarsely-crush- 
ed bones, that its action must be slow. A large reduction must 
therefore be made from the calculated price. 

II. Is in good form. The sample furnished was small, so that 
I was unable to determine the soluble phosphoric acid. 

COLUMBIAN OR ROCK GUANO. 

This substance, which has also been called a native superphos- 
phate of lime, is reported to come from certain islands in the 
Caribbean Sea. It occurs in hard stony masses, which vary much 
in structure, color and composition. The rock that is richest in 
phosphoric acid is concretionary in structure. Externally its 
color is gray or white, internally brown or black. This rock, 
though quite tough under the hammer, may be readily reduced 
to a fine powder, having a yellowish or brownish-gray color, and 
in this form it now appears in the market. It has been supposed 



34 

that this guano is formed from the excrements of gulls, pelicans, 
and cormorants, which are the sole inhabitants of the islands 
where it is found. These islands are a hundred or more in num- 
ber, and it is said that the guano exists there in enormous quan- 
tities. The rock guano consists essentially of phosphates, but 
is more or less intermixed with other mineral matters. It con- 
tains but a trifling amount of ammonia, or of ammonia-yielding 
substances. 

The composition is seen from the following table : 



85 





O 

2 


5 


o 1 








nl_ 
O ■- 


2 

5 - 


2- 


> 


o 


X 

J 


J3 3 _ 


5' p 

Ci. 


5^ 

p 




p 


3 o 
"^-^ 


r 


io o' o n. p '^ 


- 


3" fO 

5 


J5 -^ 






o 

2. 






O S5 

C5 S. 


3 

3 








g 




p' 






- o a. 


"1 








Scrq 




_f5 


^T 






".P^' 






















o '^ 






















































b 5 








_ ^ 
























p' p 








-5" "^ 
































Ei ^* 
























£ S" 








Q-== 
























r" 








3 ^ 
























5' 










^ ^ 


























































p 










o 3" 



































>~t 
































►■ 


























^£ 




















































































o 






































-2 




































»- 




















































































































o 












































































o' 






k 






























» 






































o_ 














































































































«> 











w 


oo 


to 


tf^ to 




C5 


S5 . 


_o 


o *>. ►-J _ t~' .'"' P y* f» 


l-H 


b 


00 QO io 


b 


o o to b b bo b b ^ 




"1 


— ' 1 


0^ t;^ GO 


Cl 


coci cr>co-vi|f"tf*.a5rf^ 




» 1 











to 


00 


o 


to to 




o 


in 


00 


?^ !^ !"' . .•-'!-' p tji 00 


1— 1 


b 


■f^ ^ to 


bo 


\t^ >-' to oj '►-• bo b b b 


o 


-J O CO 


__o 


en to O C3 to to o to lo 




^ 




!_, 






to 


» * 


O 


if- to 


1 1 


C5 


-T to 


P 


O h^. ^ _ J-i HJ Ol 05 OD 


h-H 


b 


ji b 


If» 


#-^ t^totocobbb 


t~* 


o 


Ji -7 


'"' 


o o c:> to cc tj c-i ►-- ci 




'<» 










to 
p 


o 




to to ^ 

eo CO p H- 


<J 




3 

D 1 






=J CO b '-I 

O Oi Ui Cn 




© 1 






to 3 3 5 ^ 


■ 


to 


.^ 






J-' 
b 
o 


OO 




!^ o o p t^ CO 

CO • • C5 CD 


<J 


^ 











to 






to >f^ ^ 

_-~i >-' to to o o to 


<l 


o 


*^ CO 




*" K-- b to b b b b 


M 


If" into to tOOCntO 




=€» 










to 
CO 






tf^ to 
to >^ K- -x> 


<J 


'-^ 


-' 00 




b b b to 


r— 1 


o 


J5 >-• 




a; o 0-4- 




<fi^ 










to 






to 1-1 ^ _ to 
H- i-i c; to to Hi to 




o» 


jn 




b b to rf^ b l-i bo 


^ 


<J 


"^ 1 


^ 




cj --I tf- ^-' o OO -J 




»> 1 








— 


'"1 


o 




p to t-i p p to to 


1— 1 


en I 
O 


-' 




If- b b to to b J-' 


jO 




~T to CT -J _J ^1 _j 




■(;» 




^_j 


" 





CO 


-3 


p 


►f^ to ^ 
to -J p o CO o o 


M 


<: 


2 1 ; 
o 


o 
Si 






b 

CO 






c 
c 


o c 


o 
o 




- 




i 
t 


': 

f 


c 


- 

c 







86 

I. and II., ground gaiano, sent to editors of Homestead, bj tlie 
proprietors of the guano. 

III., unground guano, sent to editors of Homestead, by the 
proprietors of the guano. 

IV., from a gentleman — a purchaser — near Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania. 

Y., from the store of C. Leonard, Norwalk. 

The above five analyses were made under my direction. 

VI., VII., VIII. and IX., are quoted from a paper by Wm. F, 
Taylor, of Philadelphia, in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia 
Academy of Natural Sciences, March, 1857. The specimens were 
rock-samples, furnished by Dr. D. iuther, President of the Phil- 
adelphia Guano Company, 

X., ground commercial sample ; analysis by Drs. Iliggins & 
Bickell. 

Richness in phosphoric acid. — This, the only important ingre- 
dient, ranges in the majority of the above analyses at about 
forty per cent. In analyses V., IV., and VIII., it fells 5, 6, and 
8 per cent, lower. In case of IX., we have but 20 per cent, of 
phosphoric acid. Analysis VIII. and IX., were made on a 
material quite different in external appearance from the rock fur- 
nishing the other samples. The Philadelphia Guano Company 
sent me specimens of these inferior kinds a year or more ago. 
They appear to be, and actually are, largely intermixed with 
sand, though when pulverised they can scarcely be distinguished 
by the eye from the best sorts. I had begun analyses of the 
specimens put into my possession, but their completion was ren- 
dered unnecessary by the appearance of Mr. Taylor's extended 
investigation. They contain little or no lime, and the phosphoric 
acid is combined with oxyd of iron or alumina. 

The best qualities of Columbian guano form tlie richest Jcnoivn 
source of large quantities of p)hosphoric acid, if, indeed, there are 
large quantities of the best quality. But the above analyses 
show that even the commercial article found in the agricultural 
stores, varies considerably in value, while some of the rock sam- 
ples are worth but half as much as the best qualities ; and, there- 
fore, bone-black, or bone-ash, is equal in this respect to the 
average of the best samples hitherto analyzed. 



37 

SoluhiUtii of the phosphoric acid.- — The circulars of the Phihidel- 
phia Guano Company give an analj^sis of this guano, by Dr. 
Chilton oP New York, according to which it contains 13.14 per 
cent, of soluble phosphate of lime. J. C. Booth reports therein, 
that Columbian guano contains 6.05 per cent, of free phosplioric 
acid, or 32.27 per cent, of soluble phospjhaie of lime. Dr. David 
Stewart, chemist to the State Agricultural Society of Maryland, 
in an analysis he furnishes, makes it to contain 5.23 per cent, of 
soluble phosphoric acid. Dr. A. A. Hayes of Boston, in his an- 
al3^ses, states that it contains 11.4 per cent, of phosphoric acid 
more than is requisite to form bone-phosphate of lime. lie says 
it is in flict a kind of natural bi-p)hosphale of lime. J. C. Booth, 
in analyzing another sample, found 9.6 per cent, of free phosphoric 
acid. On the strength of these statements, the Columbian guano 
has been called a native superpliospjliaie of lime. It is easv to un- 
derstand how some of the gentlemen above-named have com- 
mitted the inadvertency of asserting that the substance in ques- 
tion contains free phosphoric acid, or superphosphate of lime. 
The error is more to be attributed to the looseness of lancuafre 
than to any other cause. 

The fact is, that some of these specimens of Columbian guano 
contain, in addition to the ordinary bone-phospjliate of lime, the 
composition of which is — 

phosphoric acid, lime, lime, lime — 
more or less of the generally called neutral phosplialj', which 
is — 

phosphoric acid, lime, lime, water. 

There is in it, however, no superphosplLate of lime, which is — 

phosphoric acid, lime, water, water.* 

This neutml 'phospliate is slightly soluble in water, and is slowly 
decomposed by boiling water. Thus, in analysci? I., II., YI. 
and VII., about 0.8 per cent, of phosporic acid was dissolved ; 
and in III., by long continued washing with hot water, 2.67 per 
cent was made soluble. This neutral phosphate is decomposed 
by carbonic acid, and hence is doubtless readily available to 
vegetation. 



* See that part of this report relative to superphosphate of Ihiie. 



38 

As concerns tlie value of those varieties wliicli consist cliieflj 
of pliospliates of iron, and alumina, V., VIII. and IX., I am un- 
able to state whether or not they are capable of readily yielding 
their phosphoric acid to vegetation. As artificially prepared, 
these phosphates are totally insoluble in pure water, and are not 
easily decomposable. In fact, nearly all the knowledge we have 
of these compounds, leads to the idea that they are unadapted to 
feed the growing plant. Some writers have not hesitated to de- 
clare them quite valueless for agricultural purposes. The only 
satisfactory evidence, however, must be brought from direct 
trials with them in the soil, for bodies are soluble there, which 
ordinarily are accepted as the types of insolubility. 

The Prince Salm Horstmar, of Germany, who has devoted 
much time and means, to studies having a direct bearing on agri- 
culture, found, indeed, that phosphate of iron is actually assimi- 
lated by vegetation ; but we do not yet know whether it may be 
api^ropriated with such ease as to adapt it for a fertilizer. 

I liad hoped to institute some experiments with a view to de- 
termine this point, but have not found the opportunity.* 

POUDRETTE, 

Since chemistr}^ has explained in such a beautiful manner the 
action of manures, and made evident what enormous quantities 
of fertilizing material are daily lost to agriculture, the question 
of ec«:»nomizing the effete matters which accumulate in large 
towns, has excited deep interest. 

The subject is not merely one of agricultural importance, but 
has extensive bearings upon the health of densely populated 
countries. Those substances which most easily pass into putre- 
faction, and then become in the highest degree disagreeable and 
dangerous to the inhabitants of cities, possess, as fertilizers, the 
greatest value to the farmer. 

K(jt many years since it was common to find large cities filled 
with filth, which had accumulated during generations, with no 
other means of removal than the natural agencies of decay, or 

* Investigations that have recently come to my knowledge, prove that the phos- 
phates of iron and alumina are available as food to plants. 

S. w. J., 1859. 



39 

rains miglit furnish, Not a few of the fearful phigues that in 
former centuries have ravaged the capitals of the old world, trace 
their origin most unequivocally, to the disgusting negligence m 
these matters, then prevalent. 

It is therefore fortunate for a people, when the refuse of the 
town, instead of poisoning the atmosphere and generating terri- 
ble pestilences, can be transported to the fields of the country, 
and under the wonderful transmutations of agriculture be con- 
verted into healthful food. 

Numerous efforts have been made with a view to produce a 
good manure from the night-soil of cities, but so far as I can 
learn, with very limited success, if the quality of the product 
hitherto brought into market is a proper criterion for judgment 

Practice and science concur in attributing to human excre- 
ments, very high fertilizing properties. It is well-known that the 
richness of manure depends upon the richness of the food that 
supports the animal producing the manure. It is equally well- 
known that, on the whole, no animal is so well fed as man. 

Notwithstanding these facts the manures that have been pre- 
pared from night-soil, and brought into commerce under the 
names Poudrette^ Ta-Feu^ &c.^ are not remarkable for their value. 
It is true that good manures are made, but they are by no means 
so concentrated as reasonably to command a high price, or war- 
rant much outlay for their transportation. 

Some of the causes that conspire to this result, become evident 
from the following considerations: 

The night-soil as usually collected has already lost the chief 
part of its original value. Unless special arrangements are made 
to prevent the escape of urine from the vaults of privies, the 
greater part of it soaks away directly into the adjoining ground 
and is lost. Now the value of the urine voided by an adult man 
during one year, for example, is much greater than that of the 
corresponding solid excrements. It contains, according to 
Stoeckhardt, (Chem. Field Lectures, page 72) : 

Double the quantity of phosphoric acid. 

Four times as much nitrogen. 

Six times as much alkalies. 

Not only is the urine itself lost to a considerable degree, but 



40 

in tlie usual construction of privies it foils ujDon tlie solid excre- 
ments and washes away a .considerable share of their soluble and 
active matters, so that the contents of a vault, even though quite 
fresh, are of very inferior value. 

Again, the vaults are only emptied at considerable intervals, 
between which, especially in warm weather, a rapid putrcfoction 
of their contents takes place, by which a good share of the 
nitrogen that remains after the urine has leached out the mass, 
escapes into the air in,the shape of ammonia compounds, and is 
lost. After the night-soil has passed these two stages of deteri- 
oration, it is usually no longer suitable for the preparation of a 
concentrated manure, even supposing it free from foreign mat- 
ters. 

But again, considerable quantities of worthless matter, coal- 
ashes, &c., find their way into the vaults, which are, indeed, 
often an omnuim gailierimi for all sorts of reflise. Often the 
slops of the kitchen run into them, and the rains flow through 
them on their way to the deeper earth, washing in sand and 
dirt, and washing out the valuable ingredients. 

From these facts, it is seen that the raw material used in mak- 
ing poudrette and tafeu, must be of variable, and for the most 
part, of inferior value. 

The process of iiianufacturing oiight to consist merely in con- 
verting the night-soil into a shape convenient for transportation, 
and if possible concentrating the valuable ingredients. -The 
manure is made of the hest qualit/j by treating the night-soil with 
sulphuric acid and then rapidly drying by artificial heat. The 
acid prevents the loss of ammonia, while the drying removes 
the worthless water, and brings the mass into a suitable state 
for handling. The manure is manufactured most checq)!?/ by 
mixing it with some drying or absorbent material, as peat, or 
swamp muck, or the charcoal of the same, and drying by expo- 
sure to the air. The first method is expensive and raises the 
cost of the product far above its value, unless the raw material 
is of unusually good quality. The second process dilutes the 
night-soil with matters which are indeed very useful, but must 
be sold very cheaply. 

According to Nesbit's careful calculation, fresh human excre- 



41 

ments, solid and liquid together, when dried completely, 5'ield a 
material having the following per centag-e composition in round 
numbers : 

Ammonia, (a considerable share not actual but 

potential,) 20 

Other organic matters, ----- 62 

Phosphoric acid, 8 

Other inorganic matters, ----- 25 



100 



The value of this, estimated by the prices adopted in the pres- 
ent report, is §60, and it therefore approaches Peruvian guano 
in commercial worth. 

How elYectually the causes I have enumerated deteriorate the 
value of night-soil before it is converted into a portable manure, 
is seen by the following analyses : 



42 




J3 C t- 




g-cS 


_• 


^i^ii 


r; 


!^ S £ 








MS" 








;:;: 














OTi 














•eg. 


Ji 












■^ S:§-3 


^ 


■^ 


^^ 


-+1 C5 c; ro cc 1-': 


c^3 r^ 


o o 


^^^ 


IM 


'^ 


Ir^ O O CO lO CO 




o o 
o c6 






<D 








o 










^.-^ 








cc o <; f-H i5^ p^ a: Ph ai o 



The analyses I.-V. are quoted from foreign journals. Anal- 
yses VI.-IX. were made in the Yale Laboratory. I, represents 
the composition of a mixture of two parts of turf-coal, with one 
part of night soil, and shows how poor an article is procured 
when it is known what is the j)rocess of making. It will be 
seen that although no dirt or sand was mixed with the night soil, 
yet the amount of fertilizing matter is very small. The further 
details of the original analysis show that besides the ingredients 
stated above, there was but 5.3 per cent, of valuable matter in 
the poudrette, and this was mostly sulphate of lime. 

II. and III. are analyses of poudrette made in France, the 
country where this manufacture originated, and from whose lan- 
guage the name is derived. There is every reason to suppose 
that these specimens were prepared in the best manner ; blood 
and butchers' offal were employed in the latter. 

IV. and V. show the composition of a poudrette made at Dres- 
den in Saxony, the addition to which of some sulphate of am- 
monia, is claimed by Dr. Ahendroth, the chemist who superin- 
tends its manufacture, to entitle it to the name of a guano. It 
does not differ materially in value from the French poudrette. 
I have before me a pamphlet setting forth the priiTciples that, it 
is professed, guide the production of this manure, and liave full 
faith that the business is managed as well as can be. The price 
of the article is about $1.00 per cwt. Dr. Mueller, chemist to 
the Agricultural Experiment Station at Chemnitz, in Saxony, 
the author of one of the above analyses, remarks concerning it, 
as follows : "In an experimental trial made last year (1855) at 
the Chemnitz Agricultural Experiment Station, with the pur- 
pose of testing the effect of various manures, the same amount of 
money being invested in each application, it resulted that the 
Saxon guano had the least effect of all. This led me to make 
the accompanying analysis. A glance at the figures is enough, 
without any actual trial, to show that no great effect can be ex- 
pected from such a manure. From the quantity of valuable mat- 
ters present, six civt. of this might be considered equivalent to 
one cwt. of Peruvian guano ; but when the form is taken into 
account — nearly one-half of the ammonia being inert, and the 
phosphoric acid existing as almost insoluble phosphate of iron — 



44 

its value must be estimated lower. The otlier ingredients are 
of less importance, and, at any rate, may be procured more 
clieaply from otlier sources." 

VI. represents tlie composition of a poudrette manufactured 
by the so-called Liehig Ifam/facturing Co., at East Hartford, Ct. 
It docs not claim to be a concentrated fertilizer, its price being 
but $1.50 per barrel when sold in quantity. It is not just then 
to estimate its value from the ammonia and phosphoric acid alone, 
for the cheaper a manure is, the more must its less valuable in- 
gredients figure in estimating its worth. 

These have not been separately estimated, for the reason that 
no calculation of any permanent value, could be founded on one 
analysis of a material that is so likely to vary in these ingre- 
dients, especially where it is sold by bulk. This being a kind 
of manure that is applied in large quantity, and the ingredients 
being in proportions more nearly approaching the demands of 
the growing plant, than is the case with concentrated fertilizers? 
whose true function is to make up special deficiencies in the soil, 
we must appeal to practice for precise information as to its worth. 
Again, it has but a local value, for being bulky, it can not re- 
pay much expense in transportation, and therefore should not 
be judgx'd by the general principles that commend or condemn 
a superphosphate or guano ; but by the particular wants of the 
soil in the neighborhood where it is sold, and the local circum- 
stances that there affect the price of other cheap fertilizers. 

VII., VIII. and IX. are analj'ses of the Lodi Go's. Poudrette, 
prepared from the night soil of New York city. The extrava- 
gant and persistent claims that have been set up in favor of this 
manure, led to a complete investigation of its merits. To insure 
a fair examination, general analyses were made on three sam- 
ples, and one of them was submitted to a full and minute analy- 
sis. The samples differed much in their degree of dryness. VII. 
fresh from New York, was quite moist, almost wet. VIII. was 
moist, but still powdery. IX. was dry to the feel. 

In all these commercial poudrettes we observe a very large 
proportion of valueless loaier and sand, viz : 60 to 75 per cent. 

The quantity of organic matters averages at about 20 per 
cent. This yields but 1.2 per cent of ammonia. There remains 



45 

but 4.5 pe? cent, of other fertilizing substances. The analyses, 
X.-XIII. enable us to compare these poudrettes with common 
stable or yard manure. Analysis X. rej)resents the composition 
of dried yard manure. Fresh yard manure contains from 65 to 
75 per cent, of water, so that we must take but one-third to one- 
fourth of the numbers there given. We see then that tJie best of 
tliese iwudrettes does not exceed dried yard manure in value, or is 
worth hut three to four times as much as its iceight of common yard 
manure, if we judge alone fi'om chemical composition. 

But the question of manurial value is by no means a purely 
chemical one. As already insisted upon, i\\Qform as well as the 
kind and quality of matter, must be duly considered. In a con- 
centrated fertilizer the assumption that the ingredients are in a 
state to be readily available to the plant, is the indispensable 
basis of calculations founded on composition. In discussing the 
value of cheap manures, this matter becomes of paramount im- 
portance. In these respects the Liebig Manufacturing Go's. Pou- 
drette is unexceptionable. It is free from coarse refuse, and hav- 
ing undergone fermentation, it would seem able to produce an 
immediate and rapid effect. It can be applied with seeds by a 
drill, does not impregnate the soil with the germs of noxious 
weeds, and has other obvious advantages over barn-yard or sta- 
ble manure. From a chemical point of view we may assume it 
to be worth as much as three times its weight of stable manure. 
Farmers must decide for themselves whether it is economical for 
their use. For some it will not be ; for many others who com- 
mand city prices for their produce, and are obliged to transport 
all their manure some miles, it can hardly fail to be highly val- 
uable. Its modest price is certainly in its favor, and I am cred- 
ibly informed that it is in good repute among those who have 
used it. 

The Lodi Go's. Poudrctte can not be recommended. The or- 
ganic matter of the East Hartford Poudrctte is a fermented peat 
or muck, is highly divided and absorbent of moisture and am- 
monia. The Lodi poudrctte contains nearly as much organic 
matter, but it mostly consists of sticks and the dust of hard coal. 
In fiict all manner of city refuse, old nails, apple-seeds, &c., &c., 
are found in it. It is coarse and lumpy in texture. Its selling 



46 

price is $1.50 per bbl. of about 200 lbs. So long as' the farmer 
can procure 400 lbs. of good stable manure for $1.50, so long it 
is cheaper than this poudrette. 

In this connection the question occurs — can not the night soil 
of cities be profitably secured for agricultural purposes without 
losing any of its original value. Undoubtedly it can be, and it 
is a subject worthy of the most careful consideration of the par- 
ties concerned in such an undertaking, viz : those on whose pre- 
mises it is inevitably produced, those who may find profitable 
employment in making it portable, and finally, those who are 
in perpetual need of just such a material for increasing the yield 
of their farms. 

Neshit has estimated the total amount of dry matter annually 
excreted by an adult, well but not highly fed, at 90 lbs., con- 
taining 16.85 lbs. of ammonia, and 2.75 of phosphoric acid, the 
former at 14 cents per lb.=$2.36 ; the latter at 4|- cts. = 12 cts. 
Both amount, to $2.48. If this estimate be correct, a city of 
80,000 inhabitants, like New Haven, furnishes yearly $75,000 
worth of the most valuable fertilizing material, which now is not 
only lost, but is a nuisance. Could a little prejudice be overcome, 
undoubtedly the whole of this might be economized in a most 
profitable manner. The raw material, if collected fresh, is rich 
enough to warrant the outlay of considerable money in prej^ar- 
ing it for use. 

deburg's bone meal. 
This substance sent me hj Messrs. Backus & Barstow, of 
Korwieh, had the appearance of hone-ash or the residue of burnt 
bones, and proved to be such on analysis. 

Water, - - - - ' - - - 3.04 

Organic and volatile matters, mostly charcoal, - 2.07 

Sand and insoluble matters, - - - - 11.19 

Lime, ...--- 42.17 

Phosphoric acid, . - . . 84.06—35.42 

Carbonic " - - - - - 1.28 

Magnesia, sulphuric acid, with undetermined matters, 4.88 

100.00 



47 

Bone Meal is a term that lias lono^ been in use in Eno-lancl, to 
signify finely ground bones, and it is a de})arture from good 
usage to apply the name to bone-ash. This is a good phosphatic 
fertilizer, and comes very near in composition to the average 
samples of Columbian guano. The calculated value is $31.75. 

IVORY DUST AND TURNINGS. 

The examination of these substances from the comb factory 
at Meriden, has led to the following analytical results : 

Dust. Turning3. 

Water 11.20 10.92 

Organic matter, .... 33.70 37.94 

Lime, . . . . . 27.09 25.80 

Phosphoric acid, .... 23.22 22.11 

Ammonia yi^'lded by organic matter, - 6.00 QAQ 

The above is nearly the composition of the bones of domestic 
animals, and it is obvious that this material must be a valuable 
fertilizer, though the quantity that can be procured is small. 

BEEF SCRAPS. 

This material is a residue of the soap-boiling processes. It 
occurs in the form of cakes, which having been very strongly 
pressed, are so hard as to withstand any attempts at pulveriza- 
tion. In composition it is almost pure muscular fibre or cellular 
tissue. It contains 97.42 per cent, of organic matter, and yields 
13 per cent, of ammonia on decay. It must be exceedingly val- 
uable to manufacturers as a source of ammonia, but from its 
hardness can not be directly useful, except it is reduced by some 
solvent, or is softened by soaking with water. I understand it 
now commands a good price from the manufacturers of super- 
phosphates. 

ON THE COMPOSITION AND AGRICULTURAL VALUE OF COTTON- 
SEED CAKE. 
Recently a process has been patented for removing the hulls 
from cotton-seed, so that this material may be expressed for its 
oil. This new industry is now prosecuted in Providence, E. I., 
and so enormous are the quantities of cotton-seed that hitherto 
have been nearly useless refuse, which may thus be profitably 



economized, tliat this manufacture will doubtless be a permanent 
and extended one. The important agricultural uses to wbicli 
the cake remaining after tlie expresssion of flax, rape and other 
oily seeds, have been applied, makes it important to study what 
are the properties of the cotton-seed cake. I have examined 
specimens from the Providence mills, and find that its composi- 
tion is not inferior to that of the best flax-seed cake, and in some 
points its agricultural value surpasses that of any other kind of 
oil-cake of which I have knowledge ; as will appear from the 
following statement of its composition compared with that of 
linseed cake. 



"Water, 

Oil, 

Albuminous bodies, 

Mucilaginous and saccharine matters 

Fibre, 

Ash, 

Nitrogen, 

riiosphoric acid in ash 

Sand, 



I. 


II. 


III. 


IV. 


V. 


6.82 




11.19 


9.23 


16.94 


16.47 




9.08 


12.96 




41.41 


48.82 


25.16 


28.28 


10.69 


12.74 


} 




34.22 


40.11 


11.76 


f 


48.93 


9.00 


27.16 


7.80 


8.96 


5.64 


6.21 


5.04 


100.00 


100.001 100.00 


100.00 


7.05 


7.75 


3.95 


4.47 




2.?,Q 


2.45 








.94 




1.32 







No. I. is the cake from Providence. 

No. 11. gives some of the results of an analysis made by Dr. 
C. T. Jackson, on cake prepared by himself from hulled cotton- 
seed. (Patent Office Eeport for 1855, agricultural part.) 

No. III., analysis of Dr. Anderson on cotton-cake, made at 
Edinburgh, Scotland. 

No. TV., average composition of eight samples of American 
linseed cake. (Journal of Highland and Ag. Soc. of Scotland, 
July, 1855, p. 51.) 

No. v., Meadow Hay, Saxony, Dr. Wolff. 

The two points of interest before us are, tlie nutritive and ma- 
nurial value of this cake. With reference to both, chemistry 
and practical results agree in their conclusions. The great value 
of linseed cake, as an adjunct to hay for fat cattle and milch 
cows, has long been recognized ; and is undeniably traceable in 
the main, to three ingredients of the seeds of the oil-yielding 



49 

plants. The value of food depends upon the quantity of mat- 
ters it contains which may be appropriated by the animal which 
consumes the food. Now, it is proved that the fat of aniinals is 
derivable from the starch, gum and sugar, and more directly and 
easily from the oil of the food. These four substances, arc, then, 
the fat-formers. The muscles, nerves and tendons of animals, 
the fibrine of their blood, and the curd of their milk, are almost 
identical in composition, and strongly similar in many of their 
properties, with matters found in all vegetables, but chiefly in 
such as form the most conceutrated food. These ifoo(?- (and mus- 
cle-) formers are characterized by containing about 15-^ per cent, 
of nitrogen ; and hence are called nitrogenous substances. Since 
albumin (white of egg) is the type of these bodies, they are also 
often designated as the albuminous bodies. 

The bony frame-work of the animal owes its solidity to plios- 
IJihate of lime, and this substance must be furnished by the food. 
A perfect food must supply the animal with these three classes 
of bodies, and in proper proportions. What proportions are the 
proper ones, we have at present no means of knowing with ac- 
curacy. The ordinary kinds of food for cattle, contain a large 
quantity of vegetable fibre or woody matter, which is more or 
less indigestible, but which is indispensable to the welfare of the 
herbivorous animals, as their digestive organs are adapted to a 
bulky and rough food. (See analysis Y.) The addition of a 
small quantity of a food rich in oil and albuminous substances, 
to the ordinar}^ kinds of feed, has been found highly advanta- 
geous in practice. Neither hay alone, nor concentrated food 
alone, gives the best results. A certain combination of the two 
presents the most advantages. 

For fattening animals, and for increasing the yield and quality 
of milk, linseed cake has long been held in high estimation. 
This is to be expected from it^ composition. The muscle of 
flesh and the curd of milk are increased in quantity, because the 
albuminous substances of the linseed constitute an abundant and 
ready source of them ; the fat of the animal and the butter of 
the milk are increased by the presence in the food of so much 
oil and mucilaginous matters. 

A year or two since, Mr. M'Lagan of Scotland, reported in the 



50 

Journal of the Higlilancl Society, some trials on the value, as 
food, of linseed cake, cotton-seed cake, and bean meal. Analy- 
sis III. represents the composition of the cotton cake ; IV. that 
of the linseed cake. The bean meal has 25 per cent, of albumi- 
nous matters, but 1^ per cent of oil, and correspondingly more 
of the bodies that have the same nutrient function as the muci- 
laginous and sacch£trine matters. Six animals of nearly equal 
size and quality were fed during three months in Winter, with 
all the turnips and straw they would eat, and in addition, two of 
them received daily, four pounds of linseed cake, two, four 
pounds of cotton-seed cake, and two, four pounds of bean meal. 
The animals thrived as well on the cotton-seed cake as on the 
other kinds of food — as shown by their appearance, and by 
their weight when slaughtered. 

When linseed cake is fed in too large quantity it purges the 
animal. The quality of beef is excellent when the daily dose 
of oil-cake does not exceed six pounds for an animal of 700 
pounds. Cases are on record when more than this quantity has 
spoiled the beef, giving it a taste like tallow. 

Probably like results would follow excessive feeding with cot- 
ton-seed cake. In the best cotton districts of India, the cotton- 
seed bears a high value as food for fat cattle. I know of no ex- 
periments with it on milch cows, but it is to be expected that 
here also it will have the same effects as linseed cake. 

A Bavarian former has recently announced that heifers, fed 
for three months before calving with a little linseed cake in ad- 
dition to their other fodder, acquire a larger development of the 
milk vessels, and yield more milk afterward, than similar ani- 
mals fed as usual. If this be a fact, cotton-seed cake must have 
an equally good effect. 

Some of those who have used cotton-seed cake have found 
difficulty in inducing cattle to eat it. By giving it at first in 
small doses, mixed with other palatable food, they soon learn to 
eat it with relish. 

On comparing the analyses 11. and I., with the average com- 
position of linseed cake, IV., it will be seen that the cotton-seed 
cake is much richer in oil and albuminous matters than the lin- 
seed cake. A correspondingly less quantity will therefore be 



51 

required. Three pounds of this cotton-seed cake are equivalent 
to four of linseed cake of average quality. 

The value of the article in question as a manure, is obviously 
very considerable. The dung of cattle, etc., fed upon it, will be 
greatly richer both in nitrogen and phosphates, than that of an- 
imals fed on hay alone. Where stock is kept, probably the best 
manner of using this cake as a fertilizer, is to feed it to the cat- 
tle, and carefully apply the manure they furnish. In this wav, 
whatever is not economized as fat or flesh, will be available as 
manure. 

In England and on the continent of Europe, linseed-and rape- 
cake have been used directly as a dressing for the soil, and with 
results fully equal to what is indicated by their composition. 
These kinds of cake decompose readily, and their effect is usu- 
ally finished in one season. 500 or 600 pounds per acre is con- 
sidered a good application ; more is liable to be injurious. It is 
found that when applied with the seed, these kinds of cake pre- 
vent germination to a considerable degree ; but if applied a week 
or so previous to sowing, this detriment is not encountered. 

The cotton-seed is often employed in the Southern States, with 
good effects, as a manure for Indian corn, &c. I do not know 
whether like rape and linseed cake, it destroys the seed. For 
manuring purposes it is about one-third richer than linseed cake. 
Its effects are mostly due to the nitrogen it contains, and there- 
fore are similar to those of guano. It is best used in conjunc- 
tion with other fertilizers. I should judge that a mixture of 
400 pounds of this cotton-seed cake with 50 bushels of leached 
wood-ashes per acre, would make an excellent application for 
most crops. It is highly important that the cake be uniformh- 
distributed, and thoroughly intermixed with the soil. 

This cotton-seed cake is doubtless an excellent material for 
composts, owing to its ready decomposability. 

Its commercial value as a manure, if calculated from the prices 
adopted in this Report, is $21.60. The market price is $25.00. 
Therefore, next to Peruvian guano, this is a substance which, if 
its composition proves uniform, is most nearly worth what it 
costs. 

Note. In making the analvses which are included in this 
4 



52 

Eeport, I liave been greatly assisted by tlie following gentlemen, 
students in the Yale Analytical Laboratory, viz : Messrs. A. D. 
Willson, A. P. Kockwell, M. Watson, and G. F. Barker. I am 
especially indebted also to my skillful professional assistants, 
Messrs. Henry M. Seely and Edward H. Twining, wlio have 
each made numerous analyses. 

PEAT AND MUCK — PRELIMINARY NOTICE. 

The investigation of the Peats and Mucks sent in to me from 
various parts of the State, last summer, has been prosecuted as 
far as has been possible. Seventeen specimens have been sub- 
mitted to analysis, and in them have been made the following 
determinations, viz: 

Water. "^ 

Organic matter. 
Ash. 

Portion soluble in water. 
" insoluble in water. 
" soluble in carbonate of soda. 
" insoluble in " " " 
Total nitrogen or potential ammonia. 
In two cases, complete analyses of the ash have been carried 
out. In all of them, the ash has been more or less analyzed, 
where the quantity of it has allowed. 

This labor has occupied my able assistant, Edward II. Twi- 
ning, nearly the Avhole of four months. Some of the analytical 
processes consumed a great deal of time, and the consequence 
is, that now, when I must present my report, many interesting 
points remain uninvestigated. I therefore jDrefer not to enter 
into the details of the results already obtained, but to reserve 
this most important subject for further and more extended stud- 
ies, if such be the jjleasure of the Society. The analytical re- 
sults as far as finished, serve to indicate the direction in which 
new researches may be undertaken with most promise of use- 
fulness. 

I may mention in brief, some of the more important facts that 
have transpired in this research. Yery great differences exist 



53 

between diiferent specimens. Some are but slightl}?- advanced 
in the peaty decomposition, and yield but a few per cent, of 
matter soluble in alkalies ; others consist almost entirely of sol- 
uble peaty substance, the so-called humic, ulmic and geic acids. 
An important question, yet very undecided, so far as my knowl- 
edge extends, is, how do these differences stand connected with 
the readiness of decomposition which is essential to the fertili- 
zing applications of peat? This is a branch of inquiry that 
deserves to be studied experimentally, both in the laboratory 
and on the farm. Hereafter I shall attempt to offer some sug- 
gestions for a practical study of this subject, which may lead 
to a better knowledge of the best methods of composting, &c. 
Some of the peats examined, have dissolved in water to the ex- 
tent of only three-fourths of a per cent. Others have yielded 
to water, five, six, and one as much as twelve per cent., viz : 
five per cent, of mineral, and seven per cent, of vegetable mat- 
ter. The precise nature of the matters thus dissolved has not 
been accurately studied in any one case. It is shown, however, 
that the character of the portion soluble in water varies ver}^ 
widely ; for example, in the specimen yielding twelve per cent, 
it is chiefly compounds of the peaty acids with oxyd of iron, 
that are extracted by water. In other cases much lime and little 
iron is dissolved. These particulars deserve the most minute 
study, because the matters soluble in water are those which are 
immediately serviceable to vegetation. Very likely some of 
these peats may be at first injurious from the quantities of solu- 
ble salts of iron they contain. 

That part of the investigation relating to the estimation of 
nitrogen, has furnished the most interesting results. No speci- 
men of peat that I have examined, though all have been merely 
air-dried, and contain from ten to thirty per cent, of water, has 
yielded less than one per cent, of potential ammonia, while the 
average yield is two per cent., and one specimen gave three and 
one-half per cent., which is one-fifth as much as is found in the 
best Peruvian guano. 

Mr. Daniel Buck, of Poquonock, has long employed peat as 
fuel, and some time ago brought to the notice of Messrs. Dyer 
and AYeld the fact that the peat he employs, exhales a strong 



54 

odor of ammonia when burning. Tliis observation lias been 
made in mj laboratory with other samples. 

In the two specimens of peat-ashes, one furnished by Mr. 
Buck, and coming from the peat just mentioned, the other by 
Mr. Stanwood, of Colebrook, were found, besides large quanti- 
ties of carbonate of lime, considerable sulphate of lime and 
magnesia, also nearly one per cent, of phosphoric acid and the 
same amount of alkalies. 

The gentlemen who have furnished these peats, namely: 
Messrs. T. S. Gold, I^athan Hart, Titus L. Hart of West Corn- 
wall, Lewis M. Norton of Goshen, Messrs. Pond and Miles of 
Milford, Messrs. Eussell Peck of Berlin, B. F. Northrop of Gris- 
wold, J. H. Stanwood of Colebrook, S. Loveland of North 
Granby, Daniel Buck of Poquonock, Adams White, Philip 
Scarborough, Perrin Scarborough, and the Messrs. Dyer of 
Brooklyn, have communicated to me a large amount of valuable 
imformation respecting the character and value of the deposits, 
which would be most appropriately embodied in a future report, 
should I be permitted to complete this investigation. 

Practical men have already abundantly proved that many 
peats are of exceeding agricultural value. This is no discovery 
of mine, or of those who have already subjected these substan- 
ces to a chemical examination. Mr. Daniel Buck of Poquonock, 
has u-sed his peat without any preparation, as a top-dressing on 
grass, and has experienced the most decided results from its use 
in this simple manner. He estimates his raw peat as equal to 
cow-dung in fertilizing value. 

What may be expected from a thorough chemical investiga- 
tion of these deposits is this : We shall be able to decide which 
are valuable, and which are indifferent for fertilizing purposes. 
We shall excite throughout the State and the whole countrj^, in 
fact, an interest in these deposits, that will lead to their extended 
and systematic use. We shall thus acquire a full practical 
knowledge of their merits, and of the best methods for convert- 
ing them into grain and flesh and milk. 

Unquestionably, the greatest service we can render to our 

farming interests is to develop our internal resources. The im- 

ortation of- foreign fertilizers is enriching foreign merchants. 



55 

and withdrawing casli from the pockets of our firmers. Their 
use is extremely liable to run to excess, and makes our agricul- 
ture unsteady and improvident. We need, not only to live and 
make money from our soils, but to constantly improve the soil, 
and thus extend our agricultural capital. The enlightened econ- 
omy of the enormous masses of muck and peat which Connecti- 
cut contains, which probably exceed in extent those of any other 
State, can not fail to exercise the most beneficent influence on 
our material prosperity. We shall thus at once fertilize those 
fields that are already arable, and reclaim from waste a large 
area of land that is now all but useless. 

I doiibt not that the peat beds of our State are destined to be 
of immense value for other than merely agricultural purposes. 
As fuel, they have already been employed to some extent. In 
Europe a vast deal of ingenuity has been bestowed upon the 
means of preparing peat-fuel, so as to adapt it to transportation 
and advantageous use. In Bristol of this State, the Copper 
Company have for some time employed a furnace in connection 
with their steam engine, which receives the peat as it comes drip- 
ping wet from the swamp, and consumes it with the greatest 
economy, even the water it contains being made to contribute 
to its heating effect. 

In Germany, a method has been invented for converting the 
porous, bulky, and friable peat, into dense hard cakes, or bricks, 
which contain little of the coarse impurities of the peat, and may 
be transported without loss or pulverization, and burn with a 
great degree of freedom. All this is accomplished without any 
pressure, by simply diffusing the peat in water, allowing the 
latter to settle, and drying the deposit. 

Again, in Ireland and Germany, peat is consumed in large 
quantities in an entirely new industry, which has originated and 
grown to a good deal of vigor within the last five to six years. 
The peat is distilled, either over a free fire, or by over-heated 
steam, and a large number of useful products are thus obtained, 
quite analogous to those now prepared to some extent in this 
country from bituminous coals. 

As an example of the kind and quantity of these products, 
the following statement may be adduced : 



56 



From a turf or peat excayated in Hanover, Germany, and 
worked in the air-dry state, were obtained : 

2 per cent, of a clear, colorless, light-turf-oil or photogene. 
2 " " dark, heavy " 

1^ " " asphalt. 

o5 " " peat coal or coke. 

15 " " illuminating gas. 

Y^ " " paraffin. 

4 " " kreosote. 

40 '^ " water containing 1 — 3 per cent, ammonia. 

These products are all susceptible of useful applications for 
purposes of illumination, lubrication, heating, preservjftion of 
wood, manufacture of lamp-black, varnish, and even of per- 
fumery. 

If I should be authorized to continue my labors, I shall com- 
municate to the Society a full account of all these variotis tech- 
nical applications of peat, in so far as they promise to be of ser- 
vice to the industrial interests of this State. 

I have taken measures to provide myself with means of in- 
formation on all these topics, as furnished by the scientific and 
technical journals and publications of Great Britain, Germany 
and France. I also wish to examine personally, the more im- 
portant of our peat-beds, so as to be able to compare their phys- 
ical with their chemical characters, and thus to establish rules 
by which practical men may be guided in the economy of the 
ditfercBt varieties. 



67 



APPENDIX.— Methods of Analysis. 

The general metliod of analysis for guanos, snperpliosplLates, 
&c., whose commercial value lies almost exclusively iu ammo- 
nia and phosphoric acid, is as follows : 

1. Of the well averaged and pulverized sample, a quantity 
of 2 grams is weighed off and dried at a temperature of 212 deg. 
until it ceases to lose weight ; the loss is water. If loss of am- 
monia is feared, a known quantity of oxalic acid is added before 
drying. 

2. The dried residue of 1, is gradually heated to low redness 
in a porcelain cup, and maintained at such a heat, until all organic 
matter is burned off. The loss is organic and volatile matter. 
Usually the substance is directly heated to redness without sep- 
arately estimating the water. 

3. The residue of 2, is pulverized if need be, and digested 
for some time with moderately concentrated hydrochloric acid. 
The diluted solution is filtered off and washed, the residue 
weighed as sand and insoluble matters. 

4. The solution 3, is brought to the bulk of three or four 
liquid ounces, mixed with rather more than its volume of strong 
alcohol and enough sulphuric acid to unite with all the lime 
which is thereby completely separated as sulphate. The liquid 
is filtered off, the sulphate of lime is washed with dilute alcohol, 
dried and weighed ; from it is calculated the amount of lime. 

5. The solution 4, is evaporated until the alcohol is removed, 
then without filtration, to it is added an excess of a liquid made 
by dissolving in 2 quarts of water, 30 grams of sulphate of mag- 
nesia, 41 grams of chlorid of ammonium, 37-|- grams of tartaric 
acid, and 40 grams of carbonate of ammonia, (see W. Mayer, in 
Liebig's Annalen, Vol. 101, p. 168,) and finally excess of am- 
monia. After five to six hours, the precipitate of ammonia- 
phosphate of magnesia, usually mixed with some brown organic 
matters, is collected in a filter and washed three or four times 
with ammonia water ; it is then dissolved from the filter by 
d ilute hydrochloric acid, and again thrown down by ammonia, 



58 

after addition of a little tartaric acid. It is now pure, and is 
finally washed and weighed as usual for the estimation of phos- 
phoric acid. 

6. 1 gram of the manure is burned in the usual way, with 
soda lime. The resulting ammonia is collected in 20 cubic cen- 
timeters of a fifth-solution of oxalic acid, (12.6 grams of pure 
oxalic acid to a liter of water,) and estmiated by titrition with 
a dilute potash solution. 

7. The soluble phosphoric acid of a manure is estimated by 
washing 2 grams of it with several ounces of water and treating 
the solution as in 4 and 5. 

8. To determine actual ammonia, one or two grams are mixed 
in a flask, with a pint of water ; a piece of caustic potash is 
added, and three-fourths of the water slowly distilled off through 
a Liebig's condenser into a standard oxalic acid. The ammonia 
is then estimated by titrition. 

In complete ash-analysis of manures, or in examining organic 
bodies, e. g., cotton-seed cake, the usual and approved methods 
are employed. 



ESSAYS ON MANURES 

1858. 



CONTENTS, 

FOR ESSAYS IN 1858. 

PAGE 

Pkat axu ]\Iuck. — Essay on tiieir Nature axd Agricultural Uses. G1 

1. What is Teat? -----... 61 

2. Conditions of its formation, - - - - - 61 

3. Diflereut Ivinds, ----.... 62 

4. Chemical composition, ---... 64 

a. Organic or combustible part, - .... 64 

h. Mineral part — Ashes, ----.. 66 

c. Nitrogen or potential ammonia, ..... 66 

5. Characters that adapt Peat for agricultural use, ... 6*7 

A. Phj'sical or amending characters, - - - . - Gl 

I. Absorbent power for water, as liquid and vapor, - . 68 

II. " " " ammonia, - - - - . 69 

III. Influence in modifying decay, - - - - - 71 

IV. Influence in disintegrating the soil, - - - - 72 

V. Influence on the temperature of soils. ... 73 

B. Fertilizing characters, ...... ij^ 

I. Fertilizing effects of the organic matters, including nitrogen, 74 
1st. Organic matters as direct food to plants, - - - 74 
2d. Organic matters as indirect food to plants, - - 75 
3d. Peculiarities in the decay of Peat, - - - - 7 7 

II. Fertflizing eflects of tlis ashes of Peat, . - . ^y 

III. Comparison of Peat with stable manure, - - - 80 

6. Characters of Peat that are detrimental, or that need correction, - 82 

1st. Possible bad effects on heavy soils, - - - - 82 

2d. Noxious ingredients, ...... 33 

a. Vitriol Peats, ------- 83 

I. Acidity, ....... 34 

c. Resinous matters, - - - - - - - 85 

3d. Deficient ingredients, - - - - - 85 

7. Preparation of Peat for agricultural use, - - - - 85 

a. Excavation, - - - - - - - 85 

h. Exposure, or seasoning, ' ..... 36 

c. Compostinp: with stable manure, .... 37 

" " night soil, ----- 89 

" " guano, ..... 89 

" ■' lisli, and (jllicr animal mailers, - - 90 

•• '• putash-lyc and soda-asli, - - . <)x 

'■ w.iod-aslics, marl, liiiii'. salt and liiui' mi.vturc, Aic, 91 

S. I'lan liiliuucliii liic analysis (it I'cal, . - . . 95 

Note. — Dr. Jl. A. FisiiKii's descri]itiou of tlio procjcss of analysis, - 97 

9, The value of analyses and of practical iufonnation, * - 07 

Girf'ukr of jnfjniry, »».... 99 



n. CONTENTS. 

10. liesults of analyses, and answers to circular:' 
No. 1, from Lewis M. Norton, Goshen, 
No. 2, " " 



Ct. 



3, 
4, 
5, 
G, 
1, 
8, 
9> 
10, 



No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 11, 
No. 12, 
No. 13, 
No. 14. 
No. 15. 
No. 16. 
No. 17. 
No. 18. 
No. 19. 
No. 20. 
No. 21. 
No. 22. 
No. 23. 
No. 24. 
No. 25. 
No. 26. 
No. 27. 
No. 28. 
No. 29. 
No. 30. 
No. 31. 
No. 32. 



Messrs. Pond & Miles, Milford, 

Samuel Camp, Plainville, 
Russell U. Peck, Berlin 
Rev. B. P. Northrop, Griswold, 
JohnH. Stanwood, Colebrook, 
N. Hart, Jr., West Cornwall, 
A. L. Loveland, North Granljj^, 
Daniel Buck, Jr., Poquonock, 

Philip Scarborough, Brooklj^u, 
Adams white, " 

Paris Dyer, " 

Perrin Scarborough, " 
Geo K. Virgin, CoHinsville, 



Solomon Mead, New Haven, 
Edwin Hoyt, New Canaan, 



A. M. Hahng, Rockville, 



Albert Day, Brooklyn, " 

Chauncey Goodyear, N. Haven, " 
Rev. Wm. CUft, Stonington, '• 

Henry Keeler, South Salem, N. Y. 
John Adams, Salisbury, Ct. - 

No. 33. Appendix — Salt marsh mud from Rev. ATm. Chft, Stonington, 
No. 34. Shell marl from John Adams, Salisbury, Ct., - 
No. 35. Marsh mud from Solomon Mead, New Haven, Ct., 
11. Tabulated Analyses, ------ 

CoJBiERCiAL Fertilizers — Scale of Prices. 
Pish manure, Quinnipiac Company's, . - - - 

Green-sand marl, of New Jersey, . - - - 

'^^nimalized phosphate of lime," . - . - 

Guanos. — Peruvian guano, - . - . - 

Elide guano, - - - 

Superphosphates of lime. — Pike&Co's: Coe & Co's: Greene & Preston's: Coe' 
Castor pummace, ..-.-. 

Bone dust and bone meal, . - - - - 

Appendix— Sombrero Guano, ' ' ' 



Page 

101 
101 
102 
104 
105 
106 
108 
110 
112 
114 
116 
118 
118 
120 
122 
123 
124 
126 
126 
127 
129 
130 
131 
132 
137 
137 
139 
141 
144 
145 
148 
149 
152 
153 
153 
155 
- 159 
159 
161 
165 
166 
167 
s, 168 
169 
172 
175 



<^/ 



PEAT AND MUCK. 

ESSAY ON THEIR NATURE AND AGRICULTURAL USES. 



1. What is Peat ? 

By the general term Peat we understand the vegetable soil of 
salt-marslies, beaver-meadows, bogs and swamps. 

It consists of vegetable matters resulting from the decay of 
many generations of aquatic or marsh plants, as mosses, sedges, 
coarse grasses, and a great variety of shrubby plants, mixed with 
more or less mineral substances, partly derived from these plants, 
and partly washed in from the surrounding lands, 

2. The conditions under ivhich Peat is formed. 

The production of Peat from fallen and decaying plants, de- 
pends upon the presence of so much water as to cover or satu- 
rate the vegetable matters, and thereby hinder the full access of 
air. Saturation with water also has the effect to maintain the 
decaying matters at a low temperature, and by these two causes 
in combination, the process of decay is made to proceed with 
great slowness, and the final products of such slow decay, are 
compounds that themselves resist decay, and hence they accu- 
mulate. 

In New England there appears to be nothing like the exten- 
sive moors that abound in Ireland, Scotland, the north of Eng- 
land, North Germany, Holland, and the elevated plains of 
Bavaria, which are mostly level or gently sloping tracts of coun- 
try covered with peat or turf to a depth often of 20 feet. In this 
country it is only in low places, where streams become obstructed 
and form swamps, or in bays and inlets on salt water, where the 
ebb and flow of the tide keeps the soil constantly wet, that our 
peat-beds occur. 



62 

In the conntries above named tlie weather is more nniform 
than here, especially are the summers cooler, and rain falls are 
more frequent. Such is the greater humidity of the atmosphere 
that some species of mosses, — the so-called sphagnmns^ — which 
have a wonderful avidity for moisture, (hence used for packing 
plants which require to be kept moist on journeys,) are able to 
keep fresh and in growth during the entire summer. These 
mosses decay below and throw out new vegetation above, and 
thus ]3roduce a bog wherever the earth is springy. It is in this 
way that in those countries, the moors and peat-bogs actually 
grow, increasing in depth and area, from year to year, and raise 
themselves above the level of the surrounding country. 

There the reclamation of a moor is usually an expensive ope- 
ration, for which not only much draining, but actual cutting out 
and burning of the compact peat is necessary. 

The warmth of our summers and the dryness of our atmos- 
phere prevent the accumulation of peat above the highest level 
of the standin2; water of our marshes, and so soon as the marshes 
are well drained, the peat ceases to form, and in most cases the 
swamp may be easily converted into good meadow land. 

Springy hill-sides, which in cooler, moister climates would be- 
come moors, here dry up in summer to such an extent that no 
peat can be formed upon them. 

8. The different hinds of Peat. 

Very great differences in the characters of the deposits in our 
peat beds are observable. These differences are partly of color, 
some peats being gray, others red, others again black, the 
majority when dry possess a brown-red or snuff color. They also 
vary remarkably in weight and consistency. Some are compact, 
destitute of fibres or other traces of the vegetation from which 
they have been derived, and on drying shrink greatly and yield 
tough dense masses which burn readily, and are emplo3^ed as 
fuel. Others again are light and porous, and remain so on dry- 
ing ; these contain much intermixed vegetable matter that is but 
little advanced in the peaty decomposition. Some peats are 
almost entirely free from mineral matters, and on burning leave 
but a few per cent of ash, others contain considerable quantities 



63 

of lime or iron, in cliemical combination, or of sand and clay 
that have been washed in from the hills adjoining the swamps. 

The peat of some swamps is mostly derived from mosses, that 
of others from grasses, some contain much decayed wood and 
leaves, others again are free from these. 

In the same swamj) we usually observe more or less of all 
these differences. We find the surface peat is light and full of 
partly decayed vegetation, while below the deposits are more 
compact. We commonly can trace distinct strata or layers of 
peat, which are often very unlike each other in appearance and 
quality, and in some cases the light and compact layers alter- 
nate so that the former are found below the latter. 

The light and porous kinds of peat appear in general to be 
formed in shallow swamps or on the surface of bogs, where there 
is considerable access of air to the decaying matters, while the 
compacter peats are found at a depth, and seem to have been 
formed beneath the low-water mark, in more complete exclusion 
of the atmosphere. 

The nature of the vegetation that flourishes in a bog, no doubt 
has some effect on the character of the peat. The peats chiefly 
derived from mosses -that have grown in the full sunliglit, have 
a red color, especially in their upper layers, while those produced 
principally from grasses are often grayish in appearance, or are 
full of silvery fibres — the skeletons of the blades of grasses and 
sedges. 

The accidental admixtures of soil often greatly affect the ap- 
pearance and value of a peat, but on the whole it would appear 
that its quality is most influenced by the nature and degree of 
decomposition it has been subjected to. 

The term muck is chiefly used among us to designate what is 
more correctly called peat. In proper usage, muck is a general 
term for manure of any sort, and if applied to peat should be 
qualified as swamp-muck. 

Some intelligent farmers call the surface layers of their swamps, 
which are loose and light in texture, sivamjj-onucJc, and to the 
bottom layers, which are more compact and often serviceable as 
fuel, they apply the term peat. This distinction is not very 
definite, but is convenient in many cases, and will be emijloyed 



64 

in tliis Report as far as practicable ; altlioiigli according to usage 
it is often necessary to use the words peat and muck synony- 
mously. 

4, The Chemical Composition of Peat. 

Pure peat is derived from tlie decay of woody-fibre, wbich 
constitutes the organic basis of nearly all plants, and is essen- 
tially the same thing whether found in true wood or in grasses 
and mosses. 

Like the vegetation from which it is formed, it is for the most 
part combustible, and if free from -accidental admixtures of earthy 
matters, leaves but a few per cent, of ash when burned. 

(a) The organic oi^ combustible part of peat varies exceedingly 
in composition. It is in fact an indefinite mixture of several 
or perhaps of many bodies whose precise nature is little known. 
These bodies have received the collective names liumus and 
geine. In order to understand the general characters of Humus, 
as we shall designate the organic matters of peat, it is necessary 
to remind ourselves of the nature of the j)rocesses of decay, by 
which it is produced. 

In a chemical sense, decay is strongly similar to combustion 
or burning. It is in fact a burning at low temperatures, a com- 
bustion going on so slowly that there is no accumulation of heat, 
and no exhibition of light. To go back one step further, both 
these processes are cases of oxydation. A piece of wood whether 
consumed in the fire, or allowed to decay in the soil, is finally 
brought to the same result. Its organic portion is dissipated in 
the form of invisible gases, its mineral matters remain behind 
as ashes or earth. It is the vital principle of the atmosphere — 
oxygen gas, which is consumed in these changes, and which if it 
be supplied in sufficient quantity, burns, i. e., unites with the 
carbon and the hydrogen of the wood, and converts them into 
carbonic acid and water. 

When wood instead of being burned with full access of air is 
heated in close vessels or in coal-pits, with imperfect supply of 
oxygen, then its most easily combustible parts — those portions 
which give flame — are burnt off, and charcoal is left — a substance 
that burns without flame. 



65 

When wood or vegetable matters generally, instead of being 
permitted to moulder away in the free atmospliere, with just 
enough moisture and suflicicnt warmth to promote complete 
decay, are kept under water and thus nearly shut off from the 
action of oxygen,* a similar burning out of the more combusti- 
ble (oxydable) matters of the wood takes place, and peat results, 
a substance, which like charcoal, burns wdthout or with little 
flame, is highly indestructible, and is richer in carbon than the 
wood from which it was fonned. 

In the formation of peat this removal of the more combustible 
parts of the wood cannot go on nearly to the degree it does in 
the preparation of charcoal, on accoimt of the lower tempera- 
ture, and the far smaller supply of air. With the changes in 
temperature, and with the variable access of air, are connected 
the differences in the nature and relative quantity of the ingre- 
dients of peat. The larger share of the organic matters that 
may be separated from peat, possesses acid charactei's. 

If peat be agitated, or better, boiled a short time with water, it 
is partly dissolved. The quantity taken up by water varies from 
1 to 17 per cent., and of this a variable portion is organic acids. 
The extract or solution in water has generally an amber or pale 
brown color, like the water of swamps or of forest streams, and 
the acids it contains are two in number, and have received the 
names crem'c and apocrenic acids. 

In the water extract these acids are in general partly uncom- 
bined and partly united to various bases, as lime, magnesia, oxyd 
of iron and alumina. 

The great mass of the peat remaining after the treatment with 
water, consists of one or several acids which are soluble in solu- 
tions of an alkali, and may thus be removed from the remaining 
ingredients. To exhibit these acids, the so-called humic acids, — 
we boil the peat with a solution of carbonate of soda ; a dark 
brown liquid is shortly obtained which contains the humic acids 
united with soda. 

If now, any strong acid as sulphuric acid, is added in excess 
to the solution of humate of soda, the soda is taken by the sul- 

* Not entirely, for water dissolves a certain quantity of oxygen which supports 
the respiration of fishes. 



66 

phuric acid, and tlie liumic acids are separated, and subside as a 
black or brown sediment. 

In most peats, after the extraction with water and carbonate 
of soda, there still remains a black residue which is insoluble in 
alkalies and has been termed humine. This substance is usuall}'" 
mixed with more or less undecomposecl vegetable matter or fibre, 
from which we know no means of separating it. It is not an 
acid, else it would combine with alkalies. Its composition, how- 
ever, does not differ much from that of the humic acids just men- 
tioned. 

Besides the bocUes above named, a small amount of resinous 
matters exists in some, perhaps in all peats ; occasionally too, a 
bituminous or pitchy matter has been found in them, but these 
substances are doubtless of no agricultural significance whatever. 
Such is a concise sketch of the organic or combustible ingre- 
dients of peat, and it is of sufficient fullness and accuracy for our 
present purpose. -' 

(h) The mineral part of peat wltkh remains as ashes when the 
organic matters are burned away is variable in quantity and 
composition. Usually a quantity of sand or soil is found in it, 
and not unfrequently constitutes its larger portion. Some peats 
leave on burning much carbonate of lime, the ash of others 
ao^ain is mostly oxyd of iron ; silicic, sulphuric and phosphoric 
acids, magnesia, potash, soda, alumina and chlorine, also occur 
in small quantities in the ash of all peats. 

In some rare instances peats are found which are so impreg- 
nated with soluble sulphates of iron and alumina as to yield 
these salts to water in large quantit}', and sulphate of iron (green 
vitriol,) has actually been manu&ctured from such peats, which 
have in consequence been characterized as vitriol peats. 

(c) The nitrogen or p)otential ammonia of peats is an important 
ino-redient, which is never absent, though its quantity varies from 
1 to 5 per cent. 



* The varieties of humic and ulmic acids, of humine and ulmine, described by 
Mulder and Herrmann are not noticed here, for the reasons tliat these cheniists dis- 
asjree as to their properties and existence, and thcj- are of no agricultural impor- 
tance. 



67 

5. After this general statement of tlie composition of peat, 
we may proceed to notice : Tlie characters that adcqjt it for agri- 
cultural uses. 

These characters are conveniently discussed under two heads, 
viz: 

{A.) Those which render it useful in improving the texture 
and other physical characters of the soil, and indirectly contri- 
bute to the nourishment of crops, — characters which constitute 
it an amendment to use the language of French agricultural 
writers ; and, 

{B.) Those which make it a direct fertilizer. 

{A.) Considered as an amendment, the value of peat depends 
upon 

I. Its remarlcable power of cd)sorlinQ and retaining tcater, both 
as a liquid and as vapor : 

II. Its power of absorbing ammonia: 

III. Its action in modifying the decay of organic {animal and 
vegetable^ bodies : 

lY. Its effect in pjromoting the disintegration and solution of 
mineral matters^ {the stony matters of the soU): and 

"V. Its influence on the tempercdure of the soil. 

The agricultural importance of these properties of peat is best 
illustrated by considering the faults of a certain class of soils. 

Throughout Connecticut are found abundant examples of 
light, leachy, hungry soils, which consist of coarse sand or fine 
gravel ; are surface-dry in a few hours after the heaviest rains, 
and in the summer drouths, are as dry as an ash-heap to a depth 
of several or many feet. 

These soils are easy to work, are ready for the plow early in 
the spring, and if well manured give moderate crops in wet sea- 
sons. In a dry summer, however, they yield poorly, and at the 
best they require constant and very heavy manuring to keep 
them in heart. 

Crops fail on these soils from two causes, viz. : want of moisture 
and want of food. Cultivated plants demand as an indispensa- 
ble condition of their growth and perfection, to be kept within 
certain limits of wetness. Buckwheat will flourish best on dry 
soils, while cranberries and rice grow in swamps. The crops 



68 

that are most profitable to us, wlieat, oats, etc., require a medium 
degree of moisture, and in all cases it is desirable that tlie soil 
be equally protected from excess of water and from drouth. 
Soils must be thus situated either naturally, or as the result of 
improvement, before any steadily good results can be obtained 
in their cultivation. 

In wet seasons these light soils are tolerably productive if well 
manured. It is then plain that if we could add anything to them 
which would retain the moisture of dews and rains in spite of 
the summer-heats, our crops would be uniformly fair, provided 
the supply of manure be kept up. 

But why is it that light soils need more manure than loamy 
or heavy lands ? We answer — because, in the first place, the 
rains which quickly descend through the open soil, wash down 
out of the reach of vegetation the soluble fertilizing matters, and 
in the second place, from the porosity of the soil the air has too 
great access, so that the vegetable and animal matters of manures 
decay too rapidly, their volatile portions, ammonia and carbonic 
acid, escape into the atmosphere, and are in measure lost to the 
crops. From these combined causes we find that a heavy dress- 
ing of well-rotted stable manure almost, if not quite entirely, 
disappears from such soils in one season, so that another year 
the field requires a renewed application ; while on loamy soils 
the same amount of manure would have lasted several years, 
and produced each year a better effect. 

We want then to amend light soils by incorporating with 
them something that prevents the rains from leaching through 
them too rapidly, and, that at the same time, renders them less 
open to the air, or absorbs and retains for the use of crops the 
volatile products of the decay of manures. 

Now for these purposes vegetable matter of some sort, is the 
best and almost the only amendment that can be economically 
employed. In many cases a good peat or muck is the best form 
of this material, that lies at the farmer's command. 

I. lis absorbent potver for liquid luater is well known to every 
farmer who has thrown it up in a pile to season for use. It holds 
the water like a sponge, and after exposure for a whole summer 
ia still distinctly moist to the feel. 



69 

Its ahsorheni poiver for vapor of water is so great that more tlian 
once it has happened in Germany, that barns or close sheds filled 
with dried peat, such as is used for fuel, have been burst by the 
swelling of the peat in damp weather, occasioned by the absorp- 
tion of moisture from the air. This power is further shown by 
the fact that when peat has been kept all summer long in a dry 
room, thinly spread out to the air, and has become like dry snuif 
to the feel, it still contains 10, 20, 80, and in some of the speci- 
mens I have examined, even 40 per cent, of water. To dry a 
peat thoroughly, it requires to be exposed for some time to the 
temperature of boiling water. It is thus plain that no summer 
heats can dry up a soil which has had a good dressing of this 
material, for on the one hand, it soaks up and holds the rains 
that fall upon it, and on the other, it absorbs the vapor of water 
out of the atmosphere whenever it is moist, as at night and in 
cloudy weather. 

II. Absorbent poivei' for ammonia. 

All soils that deserve to be called fertile, have the property of 
absorbing and retaining ammonia and the volatile matters which 
escape from fermenting manures, but light and coarse soils may 
be deficient in this power. Here again in respect to its absorp- 
tive power for ammonia, peat comes to our aid. 

We may easily show by direct experiment that peat absorbs 
and combines with ammonia. 

I took for example a weighed quantity of the peat No. 29 
from the New Haven Beaver Pond, the sj)ecimen furnished me 
by Chauncey Goodyear Esq., and poured upon it a known quan- 
tity of d jjute solution of ammonia, and agitated the two together 
for 48 hours. I then distilled off' at a boiling heat the unab- 
sorbed ammonia and determined its quantity. This amount 
subtracted from that of the ammonia originally employed, gave 
the quantity of ammonia absorbed and retained by the peat at 
the temperature of boiling water. 

The peat retained ammonia to the amount of .95 of one per 
cent. 

I made another trial with carbonate of ammonia, adding ex- 
cess of solution of this salt to a quantity of peat, and exposing 
it to the heat of boiling water, until no smell of ammonia was 



70 

perceptible. The entire ammonia in the peat was then deter- 
mined, and it was found that the dry peat which originally gave 
2.4 per]|cent. of ammonia (potential,) now gave 8.7 per cent. The 
absorbed quantity was thus 1.3 per cent. 

This last experiment most nearly rej^ resents the true power of 
absorption, because in fermenting manures ammonia mostly oc- 
curs in the form of carbonate, and this is more largely retained 
than free ammonia, on account of its power of decomjDosing the 
humate of lime, forming with it carbonate of lime and humate 
of ammonia. 

The absorbent power of j^eat for ammonia is beautifully shown 
by the analyses of three specimens sent me by Edwin Hoyt, Esq., 
of New Canaan. The first of these (No. 22,) is the swamp muck 
he employs. It contains in the dry state but .58 per cent, of 
ammonia (potential.) The second sample (No. 23,) is the 
same muck that has lain under the flooring of the horse stables, 
and has been in this way partially saturated with urine. It con- 
tains 1.15 per cent, of ammonia. The third sample is, finally, 
the same muck composted with white-fish. It contains 1.31 per 
cent, of ammonia. 

The quantities of ammonia thus absorbed, both in the labora- 
tory and field experiments is small — from .7 to 1.3 per cent. 
The absorption is without doubt almost entirely due to the or- 
ganic matter of the peats, and in all the specimens on which 
these trials were made, the per centage of inorganic matter is 
large. The results therefore become a better expression of the 
power of 2^<^<^i i^i general to absorb ammonia, if we reckon them 
on the organic matter alone. Calculated in this way, the organic 
matter of the Beaver Pond peat (which constitutes but 68 per 
cent, of the dry peat) absorbs 1.4 per cent, of free ammonia and 
1.9 per cent, of ammonia out of the carbonate of ammonia. In 
the same manner we find that the organic matter of Hoy t's muck 
has absorbed 2.35 per cent, of ammonia. 

We observe that the peat which is, naturally, richest in am- 
monia, absorbs less, relativel}'', than that which is poor in this 
substance. 

When we consider how small an ingredient of most manures 
ammonia is, viz. : less than one j^er cent, in case of stable ma- 



71 

nure, and liow little of it in tlie sliape of guano for instance is 
usually applied to crops — not more tlian 40 to 60 lbs, to the acre. 
(The usual dressings with guano are from 250 to 400 lbs. per 
acre, and ammonia averages but 15 per cent, of the guano) we at 
once perceive that an absorptive power of two or even one per 
cent, is adequate for every agricultural purpose. 

III. The influence of peat in modifying the decay of organic 
matters deserves notice. 

Peat itself in its native bed or more properly the water which 
impregnates it and is charged with its soluble principles has a 
remarkable anti-septic or preservative power. Many instances 
are on record of the bodies of animals being found in a quite 
fresh and well-preserved state in peat bogs, but when peat is 
removed from the swamp, and so far dried as to be convenient 
for agricultural use, it does not appear to exert this preservative 
quality to the same degree or even in the same kind. 

Buried in a peat, bog or immersed in peat water, animal mat- 
ters are absolutely prevented from decay, or decay only with 
extreme slowness ; but if covered with peat that is no longer 
quite saturated with water, their decay is indeed checked in 
rapidity, and the noisome odors evolved from putrifying animal 
substances are not perceived, still decay does go on, and in warm 
weather, no very long time is needed to complete the process. 

The effect of peat in modifying decay is analogous to that of 
charcoal, and is probably connected with its extreme porosity. 
If a piece of flesh be exposed to the air during summer weather 
it shortly putrifies and acquires an intolerable odor. If it be now 
repeatedly rubbed with charcoal dust, and kept in it for some 
time, the taint which only resides on the surface, may be com- 
pletely removed, and the sweetness of the meat restored, or if 
the fresh meat be surrounded with a layer of charcoal powder of 
a certain thickness, it will pass the hottest weather without man- 
ifesting the usual odor of putrefying bodies. 

It does however waste away, and in time, completely disap- 
pears. It decays, but does not putrefy, it exhales, not the dis- 
gusting gases which reveal the neighborhood of carrion, but the 
pungent odor of hartshorn. The gases which escape are the 



72 

same that would result if tlie flesli were perfectly burnt up in a 
full supply of air, viz. : vapor of water, carbonic acid and am- 
monia. 

If we attend carefully to the nature of decay thus modified 
by charcoal dust, we find that it is complete, rapid but regular, 
and unaccompanied by unhealthful or disagreeable exhalations. 

Peat has all the effects of charcoal with this advantage, that it 
permanently retains the ammonia formed in decay, which con- 
trary to the generally received opinion charcoal does not. 

From its absorptive power for water, it maintains a lower 
temperature under the sun's heat than dry charcoal or a light 
soil, and this circumstance protracts and regulates the jjrocess of 
decay in a highly beneficial manner, so that if a muck-dressed 
soil receive an application of stable manure, fish, or guano, — in 
the first place, the ammonia and other volatile matters cannot be 
formed so rapidly as in the undressed soil, because the soil is 
moister and decay is thereby hindered, — and in the second place, 
when formed they cannot escape from the soil, but are fixed in 
it by the peculiar absorptive power of the vegetable acids of 
muck. 

These properties of peat will be again recurred to, when we 
come to discuss its uses in composting. 

IV. Peat 2'>i'omotes the disintegration of the soil. 

Every soil is a storehouse of food for crops ; but the stores it 
contains are only partly available for immediate use. In fact, 
by far the larger share is locked up, as it were, in insoluble com- 
binations, and by a very slow and gradual change does it become 
accessible to the plant. This change is chiefly brought about by 
the united action of water and carbonic acid gas, or rather of 
water holding this gas in solution. Nearly all the rocks and 
minerals out of which fertile soils are formed, — which therefore 
contain those inorganic matters that are essential to vegetable 
growth, — though very slowly acted on by pure water, are decom- 
posed and dissolved to a much greater extent, to an extent, 
indeed, commensurate with the wants of vegetation, by water 
charged with carbonic acid gas. 

The only abundant source of carbonic acid in the soil, is decaying 
vegetable m,atter. 



73 

Hungry, leacliy soils, from their deficiency of vegetable mat- 
ter and of moisture do not adequately yield tlieir own native re- 
sources to the support of crops, because the conditions for con- 
verting their fixed into floating capital are wanting. Such soils 
dressed with peat or green manured, at once acquire the power 
of retaining water, and keep that water overcharged with car- 
bonic acid, thus not only the extraneous manures which the 
fiirmer applies are fully economized ; but the soil' becomes more 
productive from its own stores of fertility which now begin to 
be unlocked and available. 

It is probable, nay almost certain, that the acids of peat, ex- 
ert a powerful decomposing, and ultimately solvent effect on the 
minerals of the soil ; but on this point we have no precise in- 
formation, and must therefore be content merely to allude to the 
probability, which is sustained by the fact that the acids crcnic, 
apocrenic and humic, though often partly uncombined, are never 
wholly so, but usually occur united in part to various bases, 
viz. : lime, magnesia, ammonia, potash, alumina and oxyd of 
iron. 

V. The influence of -peat on the temperature of light soils dressed 
with it may often be of considerable practical importance. A 
light dry soil is subject to great variations of temperature, and 
rapidly follows the changes of the atmosphere from cold to hot, 
and from hot to cold. In the summer noon a sandy soil becomes 
so warm as to be hardly endurable to the feel, and again it is on 
such soils that the earliest frosts take effect. If a soil thus sub- 
ject to extremes of temperature have a dressing of peat, it will 
on the one hand not become so warm in the hot da}', and on the 
other hand it will not cool so rapidly, nor so much in the night ; 
its temperature will be rendered more uniform, and on the whole 
more conducive to the welfare of vegetation. Tins regulative 
effect on temperature is partly due to the stores of water held by 
peat. In a hot day this water is constantly evaporating, and 
this, as all know is a cooling process. At night the peat absorbs 
vapor of water from the air, and condenses it within its pores, 
this condensation is again accompanied with the evolution of 
heat. 



74 

It appears to be a general, tliougli not invariable fact tliat 
dark colored soils, other things being equal, are constantly the 
warmest, or at any rate maintain the temperature most favorable 
to vegetation. It has been repeatedly observed that on light- 
colored soils plants mature more rapidly if the soil be thinly 
covered with a coating of some black substance. Thus Lampa- 
dius. Professor in the School of Mines at Friberg a town situat- 
ed in a mountainous part of Saxon}^, found that he could ripen 
melons, even in the coolest summers, by strewing a coating of 
coal-dust an inch deep over the surface of the soil. In some of 
the vineyards of the Rhine, the powder of a black slate is em- 
ployed to hasten the ripening of the grape. 

Girardin, an eminent French agriculturist in a series of ex- 
periments on the cultivation of potatoes found that the time of 
their ripening varied eight to fourteen days, according to the 
character of the soil. He found, on the 25th of August, in a 
very dark soil made so by the presence of much humus or de- 
cajdng vegetable matter, twenty-six varieties ripe; in sandy soil 
but twenty, in clay nineteen, and in a white lime soil only 
sixteen. 

It cannot bo doubted then, that the effect of dressing a light 
sandy or gravelly soil with peat, or otherwise enriching it in veg- 
etable matter, is to render it warmer, in the sense in which that 
word is usually applied to soils. The upward range of the ther- 
mometer may not be increased, but the uniform warmth so salu- 
tary to our most valued crops is thereby secured. 

(i>.) The ingredients and qu;dities of peat which make it a 
direct fertilizer next come under discussion. We shall notice : 

I. The organic matters^ including nitrogen or ammonia. 

II. The inorganic or mineral ingredients ; and 

III. Institute a comjjarison between j^ccit and staltle manure. 
In division I. we have to consider: 

1st. The organic matters as direct food to plants. 

Twenty years ago, when Chemistry and Vegetable- Phj'siology 
began to be applied to Agriculture, the opinion was firmly held 
among scientific men, that the organic j^arts of humus — by 
which we understand decayed vegetable matter, such as is found 
to a greater or less extent in all good soils, and abounds in many 



75 

fertile ones, sucli as constitutes tlie leaf-mould of forests, sucli as is 
produced in the fermenting of stable manure, and tliat forms the 
principal part of swamp-muck and peat, — are the true nourish- 
ment of vegetation, at any rate of the higher orders of plants, 
those which supply food to man and to domestic animals. 

In 184:0, Liebig, in his celebrated and admirable treatise on 
the "Applications of Chemistry to Agriculture and Physiology," 
gave as his opinion that these organic bodies do not nourish 
vegetation except by the products of their decay. He asserted 
that they cannot enter the plant directly, but that the water, 
carbonic acid and ammonia resulting from their decay, are the 
substances actually imbibed by plants, and from these alone is 
built up the organic or combustible part of vegetation. 

To this day there is a division of opinion among scientific 
men on this subject, some adopting the views of Liebig, others 
adhering essentially to the old doctrines. Many experiments 
and trials have been made with a view to settling this question, 
but such are the diificulties of a direct solution that scarcely 
definite results either w^ay have been obtained. 

On the one hand, Liebig and those who adopt his doctrines, 
have demonstrated that these organic matters are not at all es- 
sential to the growth of agricultural plants, and have shown 
that they can constitute but a small part of the actual food of 
vegetation taken in the aggregate. 

On the other hand, there is no satisfactory evidence that the 
soluble organic matters of the soil and of peat, are not actually 
appropriated by, and, so far as they go, are not directly service- 
able as food to plants. 

Be this as it may, practice has abundantly demonstrated the 
value of humus as an ingredient of the soil, and if not directly, 
yet indirectl}^, it furnishes the material out of which plants build 
Tip their parts. 

2d. The organic matters of peat as indirect food to plants. 
Very nearly one-half by weight of our common crops when per- 
fectly dry, consists of carbon. The substance W'hich supplies 
this element to plants is the gas, carbonic acid. Plants derive 
this gas mostly from the atmosphere absorbing it b}^ means of 
their leaves. But the free atmosphere, at only a little space 



76 

above tlie soil, contains but l-25,000tli of its bulk of tliis gas, 
whereas plants flourish, in air containing a larger quantity, and 
in fact their other wants being supplied, they grow better as the 
quantity is increased to l-12th the bulk of the air. These con- 
siderations make sufficiently obvious how important it is that 
the soil have in itself a constant and abundant source of carbonic 
acid gas. As before said, organic matter in a state of decay, is 
the single material which the farmer can incorporate with his 
soil in order to make it a supply of this most indispensable 
form of plant-food. 

The nitrogen of crops, an ingredient that characterizes those 
vegetable substances which have the highest value as food for 
man, is naturally supplied to plants in the form of ammonia, and 
we are sufficiently aware of the great fertilizing value of this 
substance and of its commercial worth, in the shape of guano, 
&c., &c., for agricultural purposes, a worth depending upon the 
fact of its comparative scarcity. 

It has long been known that peat contains a considerable 
quantity of nitrogen, and the average amount in the 33 speci- 
mens I have submitted to analysis, including peats and swamp 
mucks of all grades of quality, is equivalent to If per cent, of 
ammonia on the air-dried substance, or more than twice as much 
as exists in the best stable or yard manure. In several peats 
the amount is as high as 3 per cent., and in one case 3|- per cent, 
were found. 

There is a difference of opinion among chemists as to the state 
in which this nitrogen exists in peat and humus. Some assume 
it to be ammonia held in a peculiar state of combination with 
the humic and other acids, so that the ordinary means fail to 
separate it, and this is the most commonly received view. Cer- 
tain it is that we cannot get much actual ammonia from a peat 
by a treatment which will displace this body perfectly from a 
guano or other ordinary manure. In two trials but about 1 per 
cent, was obtained. 

In order then to estimate the availability of the nitrogen of 
peat, we must fall back on general principles, and practical ex- 
perience. 

We know from the exact demonstrations of chemical science 



77 

that when organic iDodies decay their elements enter into new 
and more stable combinations and that their nitrogen appears 
in the form of ammonia. If bodies very rich in nitrogen nn- 
dergo a rapid putrefactive decay, a portion of the nitrogen sepa- 
rates as such and escaj^es combination, it is probable however 
that highly porous substances containing but a few per cent, of 
nitrogen, yield all or nearly all their nitrogen in the shape of 
ammonia, or, what has the same agricultural significance, in that 
of nitric acid. 

The conclusion then is entirely warranted that the nitrogen of 
peat becomes almost completely available, as the peat decays in 
the soil. This conclusion is supported by the fact attested by 
practical men, that certain varieties of swamp-muck are equal 
to stable manure in their fertilizing effects, although inferior to 
the latter in respect to the quantity of substances usually held 
to be active fertilizers which they contain, ammonia (nitrogen) 
alone excepted. 

8d. The decay of peat itself offers some peculiarities that 
are worthy of notice in this connection. It is more gradual and 
regular in decay than the vegetable matters of stable dung, or 
than that furnished by turning under sod or green crops. It is 
thus a more steady and lasting benefit, especially in light soils, 
out of which ordinary vegetable manures disappear too i-apidly. 
The decay of peat appears to proceed through a regular series 
of steps. In the soil, especially in contact with soluble alkaline 
bodies as ammonia and lime, there is a progressive conversion 
of the insoluble or less soluble into soluble compounds. Thus 
the inert matters that resist the immediate solvent power of alka- 
lies, absorb oxygen from the air and form the humic acid soluble 
in alkalies ; the humic acids also undergo an analogous change, 
and pass into crenic acid, and this body is converted into apo- 
crenic acid. The two latter are soluble in water, and, in the 
porous soil, they are rapidly brought to the end-result of decay, 
viz. : water, carbonic acid and ammonia. 

Great diiFerences must be observed, however, in the rapidity 
with which these changes take place. Doubtless they go on 
most slowly in case of the black compact peats, and perhaps 
many of the lighter and more porous samples of swamp-muck I 



78 

iiave examined would decay nearly as fast as unaltered vegetable 
matter. 

It miglit appear from tlie above statement that the effect of 
exposing peat to the air as is done when it is incorporated mth 
the soil, would be to increase relatively the amount of soluble 
organic matters ; but the fact is, that they are actually dimin- 
ished and so because the oxydation and consequent removal of 
these soluble matters (crenic and apocrenic acids) proceed more 
rapidly than they can be produced from the less soluble humic 
acid of the peat. 

II. With regard to the inorganic matters of peat considered 
as food to plants, it is obvious that leaving out of the account 
for the present, some exceptional cases, they are useful as far as 
they go. 

In the ashes of peats, we almost always find small quanties 
of sulphate of lime, magnesia and phosphoric acid. Potash and 
soda too, are often present though never to any considerable 
amount. CarlDonate and sulphate of lime are large ingredients 
of the ashes of about one-half the peats I have examined. The 
ashes of the other half are largely mixed with sand and soil, 
but in most cases also contain considerable sulphate and often 
carbonate of lime and magnesia. 

In one swamp-muck, No. 4, from Messrs. Pond and Miles, 
Milford, there was found but two per cent, of ash, at least one 
half of which was sand, and the remainder sulphate of liiiie, 
(gypsum). In other samples 20, 30, 50 and even 60 per cent, 
remained after burning off the organic matter. In these cases 
the ash is chiefly sand. The amount of ash found in those peats 
which were most free from sand ranges from 4 to 9 per cent. 
Probably the average per centage of true ash, viz. : that derived 
from the organic matters themselves not including sand and acci- 
dental ingredients, is not far from 5 per cent. 

I regret tl^at time has not allowed me to make more complete 
examinations of the ashes of all the peats that have come under 
analysis. What I have been able to do is with two exceptions 
simply to ascertain the presence, and in a rough way the com- 
parative abundance of lime, magnesia, iron, sulphuric and car- 
bonic acids. I am not entirely satisfied with the accuracy of 



79 

tlie inferences wliicli I liave been obliged to draw from tlie neces- 
sarily superficial asli-examinations. But to carry out full quan- 
titative analyses of tlie ashes of o-i peats and mucks, is an im- 
mense amount of labor, and could not be lioped to prove prac- 
tically remunerative ; because it must be with the analyses of 
peats as it is with that of soils, they may be useful to establish a 
general fact, but cannot be relied upon implicitly in individual 
cases unless they are strongly marked and peculiar. 

I give here a statement of the composition of the ash of two 
peats, the only ones I. have had time to examine fully. They 
doubtless give a fair idea of the inorganic ingredients of the 
majority of the peats submitted to trial, sand not being taken 
into account. 

Analysis of Peat ashes. 





I. 


II. 


Potash, 


.69 


.80 


Soda, . . , . 


- .58 




Lime, 


- 40.52 


35.59 


Magnesia, 


6.06 


4.92 


Oxyd of iron and alumina, - 


5.17 


9.08 


Phosphoric acid. 


- .50 


.77 


Sulphuric acid. 


5.52 


10.41 


Cldorine, 


- .15 


.43 


Soluble silica. 


8.23 


1.40 


Carbonic acid. 


19.60 


22.28 


Sand and charcoal, - 


12.11 


15.04 



99.13 100.74 

I. was furnished me by Mr. Daniel Buck, Jr., of Poquonock, 
and comes from a peat, (No. 12,) which he employs as fuel. For 
the elaborate analysis I am indebted to Mr. Geo. F. Barker of 
Charleston, Mass., a graduate of the Yale Scientific School. 

II. (from peat No. 9,) was sent me by Mr. J. H. Stan wood of 
Colebrook. Mr. 0. C. Sparrow of Colchester, Ct., a graduate 
of the Yale Scientific School, executed the analysis. 



. 80 

The fertilizing constituents of botli these ashes consist almost 
entirely of carbonate and sulphate of lime, and carbonate of 
magnesia. Phosphoric acid and potash are present, but in small 
quantity. Nevertheless, as will be shown presently, the ingre- 
dients of these ashes must be considered as largely contributmg 
to the feitiUzing effect of the peats from which they were 
derived. 

In a few instances, there is an almost entire want of useful 
ash ingredients, for example, in Virgin's mucks, Nos. 18, 19 
and 20 ; and Hoyt's muck. No. 22. In these samples, besides 
sand and oxyd of iron, there are only very minute quantities of 
lime and magnesia to be found. 

III. ComjKcrison of Peat loith Stable Manure. 

The fertilizing value of peat is best understood by comparing 
it with some standard manure. Stable manure is obviously that 
fertilizer whose effects are most universally observed and ap- 
preciated, and by setting analyses of the two side by side, we 
may see at a glance, what are the excellencies and what the de- 
ficiencies of peat. In order rightly to estimate the worth of 
those ingredients which occur in but small per centage in peat, 
we must remember that it like stable manure, may be, and 
usually should be applied in large doses, so that in fact the 
smallest ingredients come upon an acre in considerable quantity. 

In making our comparison we will take the analysis of Peat 
No. 12, (Mr. Buck's,) and one executed by Dr. Yoelckcr of the 
Eo3^al Agricultural College of England, on wellf-ermented farm 
yard manure of best quality, from the mixed dung of horses, 
cows and sheep. 

The peat is understood to be simply air dried, yet perhaps 
dryer than it would become if dug and left heaped over one 
summer ; while the yard manure is moist from the heap, and of 
the usual average dryness. 



81 



No. I, is the complete analysis of Peat ; ISTo. II, of well rotted 
stable manure : 



Water expelled at 212 deg. 

' Soluble in dilute solution of carbonate of 
soda — soluble geine, 



I. 

18.050 

27.190 



Insoluble in solution of carbonate of 
soda, - - - - 



bo 

f-i 

O 

Potasli^ 

Soda, . . . 

Lime, 

Magnesia, 

Oxyd of iron and alumina 

Phosphoric acid. 

Sulphuric acid. 

Chlorine, 

Soluble silica. 

Carbonic acid, - 

Sand and charcoal, 



II. 

75.120 



16.530 



48.810 , 




.011 


.191 


.035 


.080 


2.131 


1.990 


.361 


.138 


.310 


.673 


- .030 


.150 


.331 


.121 


- .009 


.018 


.191 


1.678 


- 1.175 


1.101 


.700 


1.010 


100.000 


100.000 


2.920 


.735 


- 1.800 


5.180 



Potential ammonia, ... 
Matters soluble in water. 

In studying the above analyses we observe 1st, that this peat 
contains yit"(S ti7nes as much organic matter^ and/o^^r times as much 
potential ammonia as the yard-manure. 2d. It contains more 
lime, magnesia and sulphuric acid than yard-manure. 3d. It is 
deficient in potash and phosphoric acid. We see thus that peat 
and yard-manure are excellently adapted to go together ; each 
supplies the deficiencies of the other. 

We see also from this that 'peai requires the addition of 2^hos- 
2')hates^ (in the shape of bone-dust, or phosphatic guano,) and of 
jyotash, (as unleached wood ashes,) in order to make it precisely 
equal in composition to stable mcinure. 

But there are some other questions to be discussed, for two 
manures may reveal to the chemist the same composition and 
yet be very unlike in their fertilizing effects, because their con- 
ditions are unlike, because they differ in their degrees of solu- 
bility or availability, 

Now, as before insisted upon, it is true in general, that peat is 



82 

mucli more slow of decomposition tlian yard-manure, and this 
fact wbicli is an advantage in an amendment is a disadvantage 
in a fertilizer. Thougli there may be some peats, or rather 
mucks, which are energetic and rapid in their action, it seems 
that the most of them need to be applied in larger quantities 
than stable manure in order to produce equal fertilizing effects. 

Another matter that may be noticed here is the apparent con- 
tradiction between Chemistry, which says that peat is not equal 
to stable manure as a fertilizer, and practice, which in many cases 
af&rms that it is equal to our standard manure. 

In the first place, the chemical conclusion is a general one and 
does not apply to individual peats, which in a few instances may 
be superior to yard-manure. If I mistake not, the practical 
judgment also is, that in general yard-manure is the best. 

To go to the individual cases, 2d, a peat in which ammonia 
exists, to 3 or -I times the amount found in stable or yard 
manure, may for a few seasons produce better results than the 
latter, merely on account of the presence of this one ingredient, 
it may in fact, for the soil and crop to which it is applied, he a 
better fertilizer than yard manure, because the substance ammo- 
nia is most needed in that soil, and yet for the generality of soils, 
or in the long run, it may prove to be an inferior fertilizer. 

Again, 8d, the melioration of the physical qualities of a soil, 
the amendment of its dryness and excessive porosity, by means 
of peat may be more effective for agricultural purposes, than the 
application of tenfold as much fertilizing, i. e. plant-feeding ma- 
terials ; in the same way that the mere draining of an over- 
moist soil often makes it more productive than do the heaviest 
manurings. 

6. On the characters of Peat that are detrimental^ or that may 
sometimes need correction hefore it is agrictdturally useful. 

1st. Bad effects on heavy soils. 

We have laid much stress on the amending qualities of peat, 
when applied to dry and leachy soils, which by its use are ren- 
dered more retentive of moisture and manure. Now these prop- 
erties which it would seem are just adapted to renovate very 
lioht land, under certain circumstances may become disadvan- 
tageous on heavier soils. On clays no application is needed to 



83 

retain moisture. They are already too wet as a general thing. 
Unless a soil be open, some varieties of muck, (the denser peat- 
like kinds) are too slow in decay, and therefore do not yield up 
their stores of plant- food with sufficient rapidity. 

Put into the soil it lasts much longer than stubble, or green 
crops plowed in, or than long manure. If buried too deeph^, 
or put into a heavy soil, especially if in large quantity, it does 
not decay, but remains wet, and tends to make a bog of the field 
itself. 

In soils that are rather heavy, it is therefore best to compost 
the muck with some rapidly fermenting manure. We thus get 
a compound which is quicker than muck, and slower than stable 
manure, etc., and is therefore better adapted to the wants of the 
soil than either of these would be alone. 

Here it will be seen that much depends on the character of 
the muck itself. If light, spongy, brown or gray in color, and 
easily dried, it may be used alone with advantage on loamy soils, 
whereas if dense, black, and coherent like some of the Irish 
peats, a block of which when dry, will make a voyage across the 
Atlantic in the boiler of a steamship without losing its form — it 
would most likely be a poor amendment on a soil which has 
much tendency to beconie compact, and therefore does not read- 
ily free itself from excess of water. 

A clay soil if thorough-drained and deeply plowed, may be won- 
derfully improved by even a heavy dressing of muck, as the'n, 
the water being let off, the muck can exert no detrimental action, 
but o]3erates as effectually to loosen a too heavy soil as in case of 
sand it makes an over-porous soil compact or retentive. A clay ' 
may be made friable if well drained by incorporating with it any 
substance as lime, sand, long manure or muck which interposing 
itself between, the clayey particles, prevents their adhering to- 
gether. 

2d. Noxious ingredients. 

(a) Vitriol peat. Occasionally a peat is met with which is 
injurious if applied in the fresh state to crops, from its containing 
some substance which exerts a poisonous action on vegetation. 
So far as I can decide from my inquiries, the only detrimental 
ingredient that occurs in peat is sulphate of protoxyd of iron, 
6 



^ 



/■ 



84 

the same body that is popuhirlj known under the names cop- 
peras and green- vitrioL This body is usually formed from sul- 
phuret of iron, which is thus indirectly noxious. 

I have found this substance ready-formed in large quantity in 
but one of the peats that I have examined, viz. : that sent me 
by Mr. Perrin Scarborough* of Brooklyn, Ct., (No. 17.) This 
remarkable peat dissolves in water to the extent of 15 per cent., 
and this soluble portion although containing some organic matter 
and sulphate of lime, consists in great part of green-vitriol. 

Green- vitriol in minute doses is not hurtful, but rather bene- 
ficial to vegetation, but in larger quantity it is fatally destruc- 
tive. 

In the salt marsh mud sent me by the Eev. "Wm. Clift of Ston- 
ington, (No. 33,) there is likewise sulphate of protoxyd of iron 
in considerable quantity. 

This noxious substance likewise occurs in small amount in 
swamp muck (No. 22,) from E. Hoyt, Esq.,'New Canaan, and in 
hardly appreciable quantity in several others. 

In a sample of the peat from the farm of Albert Day, Esq., 
Brooklyn, which is reputed detrimental, I have not been able 
to find any traces of this substance. 

Besides green- vitriol, it is possible that certain organic salts of 
protoxyd of iron, may be deleterious, but there is not much evi- 
dence to support this idea. 

{h) The acidity of Peats. Many writers have asserted that 
peat and muck possess a hurtful "acidity" which must be cor- 
rected before they can be usefully employed. It is indeed a fact 
that peat consists largely of acids, but, except perhaps in the vit- 
riol peats, (those containing copperas,) they are so insoluble, or 
if soluble, are so quickly modified by the absorption of oxygen, 
that they do not exhibit any "acidity" that can be deleterious 
to vegetation. It is advised to neutralize this supposed acidity by 
lime or some other alkali before using peat as a fertilizer or amend- 
ment, and there is great use in such mixtures of peat with alka- 
line matters, as we shall presently notice under the head of com- 
(f ■ 

* Erroneously said to be from Mr. Philip Scarborough, in an article in the Home- 
stead, Yol. 3, p. 540. 



85 

posts, but I know of no single fact, wliicli warrants tlie idea that 
the organic matters of any peat have any acidity that is hurtful 
to vegetation. 

(c) Besoious mailers are mentioned by various writers as in- 
jurious ingredients of peat, but I find no evidence that this no- 
tion is well-founded. The peat or muck formed from the decay 
of resinous wood and leaves does not appear to be injurious, and 
the amount of resin in peat is exceedingly small. 

3d. Deficient Ingredients. This topic has been alluded to 
already, and we need only mention here that potash and phos- 
phoric acid are in general the bodies which must be added to 
peat to make a durably efticient fertilizer. Sometimes, too, lime 
is wanting. To supply these ingredients ; for potash, unlcached 
wood ashes or New Jersey Green Sand may be employed ; for 
phosphoric acid, bone-dust or phosphatic guano ; for lime, marl 
or leached ashes. 

7. The Prejjaratioji of Peat for Agricultural Use. 

(a) Excavation. As to the time and manner of getting out 
peat, the circumstances of each case must determine. I only 
venture here to offer a few hints on this subject, which belono-s 
so exclusively to the farm. The mouth of August is generally 
the appropriate time for throwing up peat, as then the swamps 
are usually most free from water, and most accessible to men and 
teams ; but peat is often dug to best advantage in the winter 
not only on account of the cheapness of labor, and from there 
being less hurry with other matters on the farm at that season ; 
but also because the freezing and thawing of the peat that is 
thrown out, must probabl}' aid to disintegrate it and prepare it 
for use. 

A correspondent of the Homestead^ signing himself " Commen- 
tator," has given directions for getting out peat that are well 
worth the attention of farmers. He says : 

" The composting of muck and peat, with our stable and barn- 
yard manures, is surely destined to become one of the most im- 
portant items in farm -management throughout all the older 
States at least. One of the difficulties which lie in the way, is 
the first removal of the muck from its low and generally watery 
bed ; to facilitate this, in many locations, it is less expensive to 



86 

dry it before carting, by beginning an excavation at the border 
of the marsh in Antumn, sufficiently wide for a cart path, throw- 
ing the muck out upon the surface on each side, and on a floor 
of boards or planks, to prevent it from absorbing moisture from 
the wet ground beneath ; this broad ditch to be carried a suffi- 
cient length and depth to obtain the requisite quantity of muck. 
Thus thrown out, the two piles are now in a convenient form to 
be covered with boards, which if jjroperly done and kept cov- 
ered till the succeeding Autumn, the muck will be found to be 
dry and light, and in some cases may be carted awaj' on the 
surflice, or it may be best to let it remain a few months longer 
until the bottom of the ditch has become sufficiently frozen to 
bear a team, it can then be more easily loaded upon a sled or 
sleigh, and drawn to the yards and barn. In other localities, 
and where large quantities are wanted, and it lies dee]), a sort of 
wooden railroad and inclined plane can be constructed by means 
of a plank track for the wheels of the cart to run upon, the 
team walking between these planks, and if the vehicle is in- 
clined to 'run off the track,' it may usually be j)re vented by 
scantlings, say four inches thick, nailed upon one of- the tracks 
on each side of the place where the wheel should' run ; two or 
more teams and carts may now be employed, returning into the 
excavation outside of this track. As the work progresses the 
track can be extended at both ends, and by continuing or in- 
creasing the inclination at the upper end a large and high- pile 
may be made, and if kept dry will answer for years for compost- 
ing, and can be easily drawn to the barn at any time." 

(/;) Exposure or seasoning of peat In most cases the chief or 
only use of exposing the thrown up peat to the action of the 
air and weather during several months or a whole year, is to rid 
it of the great amount of water which adheres to it, and thus 
to reduce its bulk and weight previous to cartage. 

The general effect of exposure as proved further on by my 
analyses, is to reduce the amount of matter soluble in water, and 
cause peats to approach .in this respect a fertile soil, so that in- 
stead of containing 2.4 or even 6 per cent, of substances soluble 
in water, as at first, they are brought to contain but one-half 
these amounts or even less. This change, however, goes on so 



87 

rapidly after peat is mingled with the soil, that previous exposure 
is rarely necessary, and most peats may be used perfectly fresh. 

When a peat contains sulphate of iron, or, if such a case be 
possible, soluble organic salts of iron, to an injurious extent, 
these may bo converted into other insoluble and innocuous 
bodies, by a sufiicient exposure to the air. Sulphate of protoxyd 
of iron is thus changed into sulphate of peroxyd of iron, which 
is said to exert no hurtful effect on vegetation, while the soluble 
organic bodies of peat are oxydized and either converted into 
carbonic acid gas, carbonate of ammonia and water, or else 
made insoluble. 

It is not probable, however, that merely throwing up a vitriol 
peat into heaps and exposing it thus imperfectly to the atmos- 
phere, is sufficient to correct its bad qualities. Such peats need 
the addition of some alkaline body, as ammonia, liuie, or pot- 
ash to render them salutary fertilizers. 

(c) And this brings us to the suhjed of comjyostirig icitli much or 
peat, which appears to be the best means of taking full advan- 
tage of all the good qualities of muck, and of obviating or neu- 
tralizing the ill results that might follow the use of some raw 
mucks, either from a peculiarity in their composition, (soluble 
organic compounds of iron, sulphate of protoxyd of iron,) or 
from too great indestructibility. 

The chemical changes (oxydation of iro7i and organic acids,) 
which prepare the inert or even hurtful ingredients of peat to 
minister to the support of vegetation, take place most rapidly in 
presence of an alkaline body. 

The alkali may be ammonia coming from the decomposition of 
animal matters, or lime, potash or soda. 

A great variety of matters may of course be employed for 
making or mixing with muck composts, but there are only a 
few which allow of extensive and economical use, and our no- 
tice will be confined to these. 

First of all, the composting of muck with stahle manure de- 
serves attention. Its advantages may be summed up in two 
statements. 

1st. It is an easy and perfect method of composting all ma- 
nures, even those kinds most liable to loss by fermentation, as 
horse-dung ; and, 



2d. It develops tlie inert fertilizing qualities of the muck 
itself. 

Without attempting any explanation of the changes under- 
gone by a muck and manure compost, further than to say that 
the fermentation which begins in the manure extends to and in- 
volves the muck, reducing the whole to nearly, if not exactly, 
the condition of well-rotted dung, and that in this process the 
muck effectually prevents the loss of ammonia, — I may appro- 
priately give the practical experience of farmers who have proved 
in the most conclusive manner how profitable it is to devote a 
good deal of time and care to the preparation of this kind of ' 
compost. 

Preparation of Co^njyosts. 

To a given quantity of stable manure, two or three times as 
much weathered or seasoned muck by bulk may be used. The 
manure may either be removed from the stables, and daily mixed 
with the appropriate amount of muck, by shoveling the two 
together, at tlie heap, out of doors ; or as some excellent farmers 
prefer, a trench, water tight, four inches deep and twenty inches 
wide, is constructed in the stable floor, immediately behind the 
cattle, and every morning a bushel-basketful of muck is put be- 
hind each animal. In this way the urine is perfectly absorbed 
by the muck, while the warmth of the freshly voided excre- 
ments so facilitates the fermentative process, that, according to 
Mr. F. Ilolbrook, of Brattleboro, Yt., who I believe first employed 
and described this method, miicJi more much can thus be well 
prepared for use in the Spring, than by any of the ordinary 
modes of composting. When the dung and muck are removed 
from the stable, they should be well intermixed, and as fast as 
the compost is prepared, it should be put into a compact heap, 
and covered with a layer of muck several inches thick. It will 
then hardly require any shelter if used in the Spring. 

On the fariA of Mr. Pond, of Milford, Conn., I have seen a 
large pile of this compost, and have witnessed its effect as ap- 
plied by that gentleman to a field of sixteen acres of fine grav- 
elly or coarse sandy soil, which, from having a light color and 
excessive porosity, had become dark, unctuous, and retentive 
of moisture, so that during the drouth of 1856, the crops on 



89 

tliis field were good and continued to flourish, while on the con- 
tiguous land they were dried up and nearly ruined. 

By reference to the Transactions of the Connecticut State Agri- 
cultural Society for 1857, it will be seen in the very interesting 
report of the committee on farms and' reclaimed lands, that on 
the farms which received the high premiums, and the most hon- 
orable mention, composts of muck and stable manure are largely 
employed. 

Messrs. Stej)hen Hoyt & Sons of New Canaan, Mr. Samuel 
.Prentice of Greenville, Mr. Philip Scarborough of Brooklyn, 
and Mr. Elisha Dickerman of Orange, near New Ilaveu, have 
used this compost with the most decided advantage, and doubt- 
less all these gentlemen would concur in the opinion of many 
other excellent farmers, viz. : Tliat a loell made compost of two 
loads of muck and one of stable manure is equal to three loads of 
the manure itself 

This opinion is so well substantiated that we need not hesitate 
to pronounce it a fact, and if a fact, it is one which deserves to 
be painted in bold letters on every barn-door in Connecticut. 

In the vicinity of cities, muck is often composted to great ad- 
vantacje ivith night soil. The Licbig Manufacturing Companj^'s 
Poudrette, manufactured at East Hartford, (for analysis of which 
see my 1st Annual Keport, pp. 41 and 43,) is a carefully made 
preparation, of which these two matters are the chief ingredients. 
In the neighborhood of New Haven large quantities of this kind 
of compost are annually made, and the manufacture might be 
vastly extended with the utmost advantage to all parties con- 
cerned. Every farmer who can, would find it profital^le, and 
not only so but pleasant and healthful, to compost the privy and 
sink waste of his premises with muck. The outlay of a few 
dollars would provide such conveniences as are needful to ac- 
complish this with ease, and instead of being afflicted with a 
nuisance, yielding an intolerable quantity of miasmatic srnell and 
a few shovelfuls of effete waste, he might convert his necessary 
into an odorless convenience, and make enough poudrette to fer- 
tilize a large garden to the highest degree. (See Mr. Edwin 
Hoyt's account of its use for this purpose.) 

Guano, so serviceable in its first applications to light soils, 



90 

• 
may be composted witli muck to tlie greatest advantijge. Guano 

is an excellent material for bringing muck into good condition, 
and on the other hand the muck most effectually prevents any- 
waste of the costly guano, and at the same time, by furnishing 
the soil with its own ingredients, to a greater or less degree, pre- 
vents the exhaustion that often follows the use of guano alone. 
The quantity of muck shquld be j)retty large compared to that 
of the guano, — a bushel of guano will compost six, eight, or 
probably ten of muck. Both should be quite fine, and should 
be well mixed, the mixture should be moistened and kept cov- 
ered with a laj'^er of muck of several inches of thickness. This 
sort of compost would probably be sufficiently fermented in a 
week or two of warm weather, and should be made and kept 
under cover. 

If no more than five or six parts of muck to one of guano 
are employed, the comj^ost, according to the experience of Simon 
Brown, Esq., of the Boston Cultivator, (Patent Office Eej)ort for 
1856,) will prove injurious if placed in the hill in contact with 
seed, but may be applied broadcast without danger. 

The White fish or Menhaden, so abundantly caught along our 
Sound coast during the summer months, or any variety of fish 
may be composted with muck, so as to make a powerful manure, 
with complete avoidance of the excessively disagreeable stench 
which is produced when these fish are put directly on the land. 
Messrs. Stephen Hoyt & Sons of New Canaan, Conn., make this 
compost on a large scale. They have employed 220,000 fish in 
one season, and use ten or twelve loads of muck to one of fish. 
A layer of muck one foot or more in thickness is spread upon 
the ground, and covered with a layer of fish, on this is put an- 
other layer of muck and another of fish, and so on till the pile 
is several feet high, finishing with a good layer of muck. 

In the Summer when this work is usually attended to, the 
fermentation begins at once, so that no delay must be allowed 
after the fish are taken, in mixing the compost, and in a short 
time the operation is complete ; the fish disappear, bones excep- 
ted, and by shoveling over, a uniform mass is obtained, almost 
free from odor, and retaining perfectly all the manurial value of 
the fish. Lands well manured with this compost will keep in 



91 

heart and improve, while, as is well known to our coast farmers, 
' tlie use of fish alone is ruin<jus, in the end, on light soil. 

For further particulars of the composts made bj the Messrs. 
Hoyt, see analysis further on. 

It is obvious that any other easily decomposing animal mat- 
ters, as slaughter-house offal, soap-boiler's scraps, glue waste, 
etc., etc., may be composted in a similar manner, and that all 
these substances may be made together into one compost. 

In case of the composts with guano, yard manure and other 
animal matters, ammonia is the alkali whi^h promotes these 
changes, and it would appear that this substance, on some ac- 
counts, excels all others in its efficacy, but the other alkaline 
bodies, j^oiash and Hone, are scarcely less active in this respect, 
and being at the same time, of themselves useful fertilizers, they 
may be employed with double advantage in preparing muck 
composts. 

Potash-lye and soda -ash have been recommended for compost- 
ing with muck ; but, although they are no doubt highly effica- 
cious, they are quite too costly for extended use. 

The other alkaline materials that may be cheaply employed, 
and are recommended, are wood-ashes leached and unleached, 
ashes of j^eat, marl, (consisting of carbonate of lime,) quicL lime^ 
gas lime, and what is called "sa?/ and lime mixiare.''^ 

With regard to the proportions to be used, no definite rules 
can be laid down ; but we may safely follow those who have 
had experience in the matter. Thus, to a cord of muck, which 
is about 100 bushels, may be added of unleached wood ashes 
twelve bushels, or of leached wood ashes twenty bushels, or of 
peat ashes twenty bushels, pr of marl or gas lime twenty bush- 
els. Ten bushels of quick lime, slaked with water or salt-brine 
previous to use, is enough for a cord of muck. 

Instead of using the above mentioned substances singly, any 
or all of them may be employed together. 

The muck should be as fine and free from lumps as possible, 
and must be intimately mixed with the other ingredients by 
shoveling over. The mass is then thrown up into a compact 
heap which may be four feet high. When the heap is formed, 
it is good to pour ou as much water as the mass will absorb, (this 



92 

may be omitted if tlie muck is already quite moist,) and finally 
the whole is covered over with a few inches of pure muck, so as ■ 
to retain inoisture and heat. If the heap is put wp in the Spring, 
it may stand undisturbed for one or two months, when it is well 
to shovel it over and add water if it has become dry. It should 
then be built up again, covered with fresh muck, and allowed 
to stand as before until thoroughly decomposed. The time re- 
quired for this purpose varies with the kind of muck, and the 
quality of the other material used. The weather and thorough- 
ness of intermixture of the ingredients also materially affect the 
rapidity of decomf)osition. In all cases five or six months of 
summer weather is a sufficient time to fit these composts for ap- 
plication to the soil. 

The use of "salt and lime mixture''^ is strongly recommended 
by so many writers, that a few more words may be devoted to 
its consideration. 

In Dr. Dana's Muck Manual, and in Johnston's Agricultural 
Chemistry, it is stated that common salt is decomposed by quick 
lime, with the production of carbonate of soda. Now although 
this change may occur in fhe soil or in presence of the organic 
matters of peat, yet there is no proo/' that it does take place, and 
all the 2'>Tohahilities are ojp'posed to such a change^ so that from theo- 
retical grounds, there is no advantage to be anticipated from a 
mixture of salt and lime over the unmixed lime, as far as the 
action on peat or muck is concerned. 

But the extraordinary usefulness of the salt and lime mixture 
for composting has been so extensively and vigorously main- 
tained, that many will be inclined to despise the chemistry that 
doubts its benefits. 

Therefore without entering into a chemical discussion of its 
merits, we will be content here, to assert, that, if useful, its use- 
fulness is not as yet explained, or the explanations given are en- 
tirely unsatisfactory. 

That it is useful is testified to by good farmers' as follows. 
Says Mr. F. Holbrook of Vermont, (quoted from Patent Office 
Eeport for 1856, page 193.) "I had a heap of seventy-five half 
cords of muck mixed with lime in the proportion of a half cord 
of muck to a bushel of lime. The muck was drawn to the field 



93 

when wanted in August. A busliel of salt to six bushels of 
lime was dissolved in water enough to slake the lime down to a 
fine dry powder, the lime being slaked no faster than wanted, and 
spread immediately while warm, over the layers of muck, which 
were about six inches thick ; then a coating of lime and so on, 
until the heap reached the height of five feet, a convenient 
width, and length enough to embrace the whole quantity of the 
muck. In about three weeks a powerful decomposition was 
apparent, and the heap was nicely overhauled, nothing more 
being done to it till it was loaded the next Spring for spreading. 
The compost was spread on the plowed surface of a dry sandy 
loam at the rate of about fifteen cords to the acre and harrowed 
in. The land was planted with corn, and the crop was more 
than sixty bushels to the acre." 

Other writers assert that they " have decomposed with this 
mixture spent tan, saw dust, corn stalks, swamp muck, leaves 
from the woods, indeed every variety of inert substance, and in 
much sliorter time than it could he done Inj any other 7neans"^ 

It deserves to be ascertained by direct comparative experiment, 
whether the lime slaked with a solution of salt, does really act 
with more power and rapidity than if slaked with water alone. 
If the "salt and lime mixture" possesses peculiar virtues, it is 
important to be known, and of not less consequence is it to de- 
termine that its reputation is fictitious. 

There appears to be no doubt that the soluble and more active 
(caustic) forms of alkaline bodies exert powerful decomposing 
and solvent action on muck. It is asserted too that the insolu- 
ble and less active matters of this kind, also have an effect though 
a less complete and rapid one. Thus, carbonate of lime in the 
various forms of marl, leached ashes and peat ashes, (for in all 
these it is the chief and most "alkaline" ingredient,) are recom- 
mended to compost with muck. But we are not informed what 
is the character of the changes they produce in muck or peat. 
From our chemical knowledge we should almost decide that in 
general they can have no material effect, and 3-et it is very imsafe 
to judge in these things without actual and precise practical 
. knowledge. 

* Working Farmer, Vol. III. page 280. 



94 

The admixture of any eartliy matter witli peat will facilitate 
its decomposition in so far as it promotes the separation of the 
particles of the peat from each other, and the consequent 
access of air. This benefit may well amount to something when 
we add to peat one-fifth of its bulk of marl or leached ashes, but 
the question comes up : Do these insoluble mild alkalies exert 
any direct action ? Would not as much soil of any kind be 
equally efiicacious by promoting to an equal degree the contact 
of oxygen from the atmosphere? 

It is possible that the carbonate of lime in presence of water 
and carbonic acid, whereby it becomes soluble to a slight extent, 
may act to liberate some ammonia from the soluble portions of 
the peat, and this ammonia may react on the remainder of the 
peat to produce the same effects as it does in the case of a com- 
post made with animal matters. But speculations on this point 
though easily made, are of no value, except to suggest practical 
trials. 

It often happens that opinions entertained by practical men, 
not only by farmers, but by mechanics and artisans as well, are 
founded on so uni'eliable a basis, are supported by trials so 
destitute of precision, that their accuracy may well be doubted, 
and from all the accounts I have met with it does not seem to 
be well established that composts made with carbonate of lime, 
are better than the muck and carbonate used scparatelj^-. This, 
it is plain, is another question worthy of investigation. 

If there is any advantage in composting muck wuth carbonate 
of lime, then nature has in some localities furnished admirable 
facilities for making this kind of fertilizer : thus in Salisbury, 
Ct., on the form of John Adam, Esq., occurs a peat swamp, at 
the bottom of which, after excavating through four feet of peat, 
a layer of shell-marl, containing a large percentage of carbo- 
nate of lime, is found, which it is believed may be obtained in 
large quantities, (see analysis No. 34, in appendix.) 

Such deposits are by no means uncommon, and whoever can 
demonstrate by a series of carefully conducted experiments, 
whether this marl is most economically applied to the soil directly 
or in compost with muck, will confer no small favor on Agricul- 
ture. 



95 

It must not be forgotten tliat we have already insisted upon 
using leached wood ashes and carbonate of lime in conjunciion 
with peat, in order to supply the deficiencies of the latter ; and 
in the agricultural papers are numerous accounts of the efficacy 
of such mixtures, but whether these bodies exert any good effect 
upon the peat itself, so that it is needful in general to take the 
trouble to make a compost^ is it seems to me, a question not jct 
settled. In the case of vitriol peats, however, carbonate of lime 
is the cheapest and most appropriate means of destroying the 
noxious sulphate of protoxyd of iron, and correcting their dele- 
terious qualit}'. When carbonate of lime is brought in contact 
with sulphate of protoxyd of iron, the two bodies mutually 
decompose, with formation of sulphate of lime (gypsum) and 
carbonate of protoxyd of iron. The latter substance absorbs 
oxygen from the air with tlic utmost avidity, and passes into the 
peroxyd of iron, which is entirely inert. 

8. I now proceed to discuss the plan cmp)loycd in the analysis 
of tlie Peats which I have examined. 

The specimens came to me in all stages of drjmess. Some 
freshly dug and wet, others after a long exposure so that they 
were air-dry ; some that were sent in the moist state, became 
dry before being subjected to examination ; others were })repared 
for analysis while still moist. 

A sufficient quantity of each specimen was carefullj^ pulver- 
ized, intermixed and put into a stoppered bottle and thus pre- 
served for experiment. 

The first point in the examination was to make a general an- 
alysis, viz. : to ascertain the amount of water, and the propor- 
tions of vegetable matter and of ash. 

In the special analysis, it was sought to obtain some nearer 
insight into the condition of the organic matter. For this pur- 
pose I deemed it best to employ the usual method of treating 
with an alkali and determining the quantity soluble therein, 
which corresponds to the humic (and ulmic) acid, and accordingly 
this operation has been carried out with no inconsiderable trouble. 
Unfortunately we do not now know whether these humic acids 
are possessed of any special fertilizing or other properties, which 
can confer interest on the knowledge of their quantity, nor can 



96 

we ever learn their significance, if indeed tliey possess any, witli- 
oiit numerous experiments directed immediately to this point. 
The only value, then, of these determinations, is that they give 
us some idea of the degree to which the peaty decomposition is 
advanced. 

In the earlier analyses 1 to 17 inclusive, the treatment with 
carbonate of soda was not carried far enough to dissolve the 
whole of the soluble organic acids. It was merely attempted to 
make comparative determinations by treating all alike for the 
same time, and with the same quantity of alkali. I have little 
doubt that in some cases not more than one-half of the portion 
really soluble in carbonate of soda is given as such. In the 
later analyses, 18 to 33, however, the treatment was continued 
until complete separation of the soluble organic acids was ef- 
fected. 

In no instance was any special examination of these soluble 
acids undertaken, since in the present state of our knowledge, 
this labor could hardly be expected to yield any new results of 
agricultural i mportance. 

By acting on a peat for a long time with a hot solution of car- 
bonate of soda, there is taken up not merely a quantity of organic 
matter, but inorganic matters likewise enter solution. Silica, 
oxyd of iron and alumina are thus dissolved. In this process 
too, sulphate of lime is converted into carbonate of lime, but 
not dissolved. 

The total amount of these soluble inorganic matters has been 
determined with approximate accuracy in analyses 18 to 33. 

It was deemed of the highest importance to study the quan- 
tity and character of the bodies which pure water is able to dis- 
solve from peats. In the watery extract of a peat we may ex- 
pect to find those substances which make it directly useful as a 
fertilizer, and also those which, like sulphate of iron, are noxious 
to vegetation. The general character of the matters soluble in 
water has been indicated already, and the analj'-ses themselves 
give the special details. 

With regard to the entire ash, and the amount of nitrogen, it 
is unnecessary here to remark upon the importance of investi- 
gating them, or to add to what has been written in the preceding 



97 

pages. The details of the process used in the analysis of jDeat 
are given in the accompanying note* by my friend, Dr. Robert A. 
Fisher, to whose skillful assistance I am largely indebted for the 
analytical data of this Report, especially for the analyses 18 to 
83. I must also express my obligations to Mr. Edward 11. Twi- 
ning, assistant, in the Yale Analytical Laboratory, for the analy- 
ses 1 to 17, executed by him in 1857. 

9. On the Use of Peat Analyses^ and on the Value of Practical 
Information. 

When I began this investigation, it was known that some 
peats or mucks were highly useful, while others -had proved de- 
trimental, certain reasons too were known why they were good 
or bad in their effects, and in agricultural writings existed a 
great deal of statement that was partly true but more or less 

* Note ox the Process of Analysis. — The following is the g-eueral method 
employed in the analysis of peats and mucks : To prepare a sample for analysis, 
half a pound, more or less, of the substance to be examined, is pulverized and 
passed -through a wire sieve of 2-i meshes to the inch. It is then thoroughly 
mixed and bottled for use. 

I. 2 grams of the above arc dried (in a tared porcelain capsule,) at the temper- 
ature of 212 degrees, until they no longer decrease in weight. The loss sustained 
represents the «??WM?i< o/ wjfffer, (according to Marsillt Aunales des Mines, 1857, 
XII., 404, peat loses carbon if dried at a temperature higher than 212 degrees.) 

II. The capsule containing the residue from I. is slowly heated to incipient red- 
ness, and maintained at that temperature until the organic matter is entirely con- 
sumed. The loss gives the total amount of organic, the residue the total amount of 
inorganic matter. 

Note. — In peats containing sulphate of the protoxide of iron, tlie loss that oc- 
curs during ignition is partly due to the escape of sulphuric acid, which is set free 
by the decomposition of the above mentioned salt of iron. Eut the quantity is 
usually so small in comparison with the organic matter that it may be disregarded. 
The same may be said of the combined water in the clay that is mixed with some 
mucks, which is only expelled at a high temperature. 

III. 3 grams of the sample are digested for half an hour, with 200 cubic cen- 
timeters (66.G times their weight,) of boiling water, then remove from the sand bath, 
and at the end of twenty-four hours, the clear liquid is decanted. This operation 
is twice repeated upon the residue ; the three solutions are mixed, filtered, concen- 
trated, and finally evaporated to dryness (in a tared platinum capsule,) over a water 
bath. The residue, which must be dried at 212 degrees, until it ceases to lose 
weight, gives the total amount soluble in water. The dried residue is then heated to 
low rednes,s, and maintained at that temperature until tlie organic matter is burned 
otf. The loss represents the amount of organic matter soluble in water, the ash 
gives the quantity of soluble inorganic matter. 

IV. 1 grani is digested for two hours, at a temperature just below the boiling 
point, with 100 cubic centimeters of a solution containing 5 per cent, crystallized 
carbonate of soda. It is then removed from the sand bath and allowed to settle. 
When the supernatant liquid has become perfectly transparent, it is carefully de- 
canted. This operation is repeated until all the organic matter soluble in this men- 
struum is removed ; which is accomplished as soon as the carbonate of soda solution 
comes oft' colorless. The residue, which is to bo washed with boiling water until 
the washings no longer affect test papers, is thrown upon a tared lilter, and di-ied 



•98 

tinctured witli iincertain speculation. It luas to learn ivJieiJier other 
than the then Jcnotvn causes of the excellence or icorthlessness of peats 
existed^ and to test the correctness of the current opinions^ thai this 
investigation toas undertaken. By a comparative study of the 
cliaracters of numerous specimens from all parts of Connecticut, 
it was hoped to arrive at some definite and reliable general con- 
clusions as to their value — to ascertain the rang;e of their excel- 
lence, and to establish safe rules for their use. I believe that 
this work has been satisfactorily accomplished, . Besides these 
general results it was forseen that this investigation would assist 
in deciding a question much discussed of late, viz. : the ability 
of chemical analysis to pronounce upon the precise value of any 
particular specimen. 

I had at the outset no great faith that the chemist could tell 
by his analyses, if this peat be good or that bad, or how much 
better one is than another. Now that 33 peats have been ex- 
amined, I believe we are able in most cases to decide by analysis, 
with great probability, whether any specimen is useful or hurt- 
ful,* and if the former, whether it has a high or low degree of 
excellence ; and yet, as will be seen further on, there arc great 
difficulties in defining the precise limits where the good peats 

at 212 degrees. It is the total amount of organic and inorganic matter insoluble in 
carbonate of soda. The loss that it suffers upon ignition, indicates the amount of 
organic matter, the ash gives tlie inoi-ganic matter. , 

Note. — Tlie time required to insure perfect settling after digesting with carbonate 
of soda solution, varies, with different peats, from 24 hours to several days. With 
proper care, the results obtained are very satisfactory. Two analyses of No. 6, 
executed at different times, gave total insoluble in carbonate of soda. 1st analysis 
23.20 per cent. ; 2d*'a.nalysis 23.45 per cent; which residues yielded respectively 
14.30 and 14.15 per cent, of ash. 

v. The quantity of organic matter insoluble in water but soluble in solution of 
carbonate of soda, is ascertained by deducting the joint weight of the amounts sol- 
uble in water, and insoluble in carbonate of soda, from the total amount of organic 
matter present. The inorganic matter msoluhle in water, but soluble in carbonate of 
soda, is determined by deducting the joint weight of the amounts of inorganic mat- 
ter soluble in water, and insoluble in carbonate of soda, from the total inorganic 
matter. 

VI. The amount of nitrogen is estimated by the combustion of 1 gram with 
soda-lime in an iron tube, collection of the ammonia in a standard tifth solution 
(12.6 grams to the liter,) of o.xalic acid, and determination of the residual free acid 
by an equivalent solution of caustic potash. 

This method in skilful hands uniformly gives such correct and corresponding 
results that it was deemed unnecessary to make duplicate analyses. In one case, 
however, Dr. Fisher executed a second analysis which confirmed the numbers ob- 
tained by Mr. Twining a year before. s. w. J. 



99 

pass into tlie bad. It is not to be expected tliat the analj^sis of 
a peat or muck will ever suffice to fix its manurial value, as tlie 
analysis of a guano or superphosphate shows the worth of these 
fertilizers. From the nature of the case, the muck analyses ad- 
mit only a much looser and more general interpretation. 

"Whatever may be the merits of analyses of peat and. muck, 
it is certain that their value is to be only brought out in all per- 
fection by the knowledge derived from actual trial on the farm. 
However far we may pursue our researches into the conditions of 
vegetable production, there will always remain unsettled points, 
and facts will be observed in practice which science can only 
imperfectly explain. Hence practice will always be in advance 
of science in certain particulars, and must be invariably appealed 
to before any doctrine can be really established. If peat were 
now for the first time discovered and brought to the chemist, he 
could not, after the most minute analysis, positively assert its 
usefulness, although he might find such strong probabilities that 
its action would be highly fertilizing, as to warrant immediate 
and careful trial. It is only when experience on the farm has 
proved its benefit, that he acquires satisfactory data for his de- 
cisions. 

The chemist who will serve agriculture in the details of its 
operations, must not merely proceed from his science out, towards 
practice ; but he must often, and not less often, go in the other 
direction, for in the field there exist conditions which can only 
be studied there, as they are wanting in the laboratory and in 
the study. 

These considerations induced me to address a Circular to the 
parties who had sent in specimens, asking information on those 
points which appeared likely to be of general service, and would 
subserve the end of this inquiry. The circular was as follows, 
one slight amendation excepted : 

QUERIES. 

1. What is the length and breadth, and the number of acres 
in the swamp or marsh ? 

2. What is the average, and the greatest depth of the muck 
or peat? 



100 

3. Is it drained or not, and if so, to wliat depth and how 
long has it been dry ? 

4. Is it a salt or fresh water marsh ? 

5. Are the upper portions or layers dry during the summer ? 
If so, how long, and to what depth ? 

6. Have any crops been produced on the drained or dry por- 
tions ? If so, what and how large crops ? And what manures 
have proved useful on them ? 

7. What is the soil underlying, and at the edges of the 
swamp ? 

8. Does the swamp receive much wash from surrounding 
hills ? If so, of what kinds of soil are they ? 

9. Has the swamp (if fresh water,) both inlet and outlet ? 
Is the water hard or soft ? How large are the streams ? Are 
they subject to heavy freshets in Spring and Autumn ? Do they 
dry up in Summer ? 

10. If several samples are sent, are they from one place ? 

11. At the place where the sample or samples were taken, 
is there much variation in the quality or appearance of the 
muck at different depths ? If so, specify these differences, and 

; give the thickness of each layer ? 

12. What kind of trees or vegetation grows on the muck, 
■and wliat kinds of timber or branches are found in it? Observe 
particularly if there be indications of much -pinQ or other resin- 
ous timber. 

13. Has the muck been employed fresh from the swamp, 
without any lengthened exposure to the weather, as a dressing 
for grass or other crops, and with what results ? 

11. Has the long dug and exposed muck been applied to 
crops without other manures, and with what results compared to 
good stable manure ? 

15. Has the muck been composted or used as an absorbent ? 
If so, with what materials, and to what advantage ? 

16. If composted, describe the manner of composting, giving 
the quantities employed. 

17. K several mucks are sent, which do you consider best 
from actual experience ? 



101 

18. Has tlie peat been used for fuel ? If so, wliat is its qual- 
ity for such use ? 

19. Please communicate any other interesting facts with re- 
gard to the occurrence or uses of the muck or peat, which you 
may know. 

10. Results of analyses and ansivers to the Circular. 

Here follow the details of each analysis, accompanied by the 
information obligingly furnished by the gentlemen who sent in 
the mucks and peats. I have in some cases re-arranged, con- 
densed, or otherwise edited the original answers as appeared 
necessary. 

Brief comments are appended to some of the analyses, but it 
would swell the Report to an unwarrantable degree, to extend 
these remarks as might be wished, in each individual case. 



No. 1. — Peat from Lewis M. Norton, Goshen. Came in form 
of dry, tough, heavy cakes, of a dark chocolate color. With 
exception of a few grass roots was well decomposed. 



Analysis. 






Organic matter, *soluble in carbonate of soda, 


17.63 




" insoluble in " " ' " 


84.79 




Total, 




52.42 


f Inorganic matter, .... 




85.21 


Water, ..... 


- 


12.37 



100.00 



Soluble in water, 1.54 per cent. 

Nitrogen, 1.2 8= ammonia, 1.63 " 
For answer to circular see No. 3. 



No. 2. — Peat from Lewis M. Norton, Goshen. Like No. 1, 
but heavier, 

* The proportions of organic matter in analyses 1-17 are not strictly correct, 
f Ash chiefly sand, contained but little carbonate of Hme. 



102 



Analysis. 






Organic matter soluble in carbonate of soda, 
" insoluble in " " 
Total, 


60.02 
11.65 


71.67 


^Inorganic matter, - 

Water, - - - . - 




8.00 
20.33 



100.00 
Nitrogen, 1.85=2.21 ammonia. 
For answer to Circular see No. 3. 



No. 3. — Swamp muck from Lewis M. Norton, Gosben. Came 
in dry, very ligbt coherent cakes, consisting largely of tbe flat- 
tened stems of swamp plants. Color ligbt brown. 

Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in carbonate of soda, 50.60 
" insoluble in " " 29.75 

Total, 80.35 

finorganic matter, ... - 4.52 

Water, 15.13 



100.00 



Soluble in water, 2.51 

Nitrogen 1.90=2.31 ammonia. 

Answers to circular respecting Nos. 1, 2 and 3. 

1. Tbe swamp contains about 50 acres, was formerly a pond. 
Nearly all around it, at tbe height of about 6 feet above the pres- 
ent surface may be seen the ancient high water mark. 

2. The greatest depth excavated is 10-11 feet. The greatest 
depth observed is 32 feet. 

3. Six years ago it was undrained, but is now drained to the 
depth of 3-4 feet. 

4. The water is fresh. 

5. The upper portions are dry enough for cultivation in sum- 
mer and barely hard enough for plowing and taking off crops. 

* The ash contains 37 per cent, of carbonate of lime. 
f Ash contains 33 per cent, of carbonate of lime. 



103 

6. Trials have been made in raising corn, potatoes, buckwlieat 
and grass. These experiments are comparatively recent, and 
the crops not very large, and in regard to corn and potatoes it 
seems necessary that some manure be put in the hill. Carrots 
have done well ; pumpkins have done well. Decomposed ma- 
nures only have been -used Potato tojis grow large — the same 
of corn — but the tract being somewhat lower than the surround- 
ing country is subject to early frosts. 

7. Sand, and in some places clay (pure and good), granite 
boulders are found at the edges on digging. 

8. There are no high hills in the vicinity, and no wash. 

9. The swamp has two or three inlets, and one outlet at the 
south-west. Soft water. Streams ordinarily small, but subject 
to freshets or high water always with a large fall of rain. The 
streams are rarely if ever quite dry, 

10-11, The three samples are from nearly the same place 
No, 1 is from the margin of the swamp ; is mixed with sand and 
clay, and lies on the bottom — on which there is a bed of sand and 
clay, say 3-4 feet from the surfoce. It forms a stratum of 6-10 
inches in depth, is quite distinct from all above it, and is un- 
doubtedly of the earliest formation. Some three years ago speci- 
mens very similar were taken out at a depth of 10 feet and 5-6 
rods from the margin ; I suppose that all below is of this kind. 

No, 2 is from the surface after removing the upper 3-4 inches. 
It evidently has been somewhat decomposed by the action of 
the atmosphere — say 8 to 10 inches deep. 

No. 3 is found between 1 and 2, though it should be stated 
that there is but little so light and poor as this sample. 

12, The roots of large trees, spruce orpine, are found, but not 
near the outside. These roots, so far as observed, are about 18 
inches below the surface. No trunks of trees but many small alders 
are found at about the same depth in a vertical position. These are 
all cut easily through with the shovel. I found one piece of 
alder, of the thickness of a man's wrist, lying horizontally at 
the depth of 8 feet. The bark in appearance resembled that of 
an alder j ust cut. (In a later statement Mr. Norton remarks) : 
As above described, and as since observed, the roots of many 
trees appear. They all seem to be of nearly the same depth 



104 

below the surface (about 18 inclies,) iDith good peat above and all 
around them. Some roots and trunks even of red asli are found 
near the outside. But at a remove of some 2 or 3 rods from 
the outside none such appear. Those of red ash are much rot- 
ten and seldom require the use of an axe. But farther in the 
swamp the roots only are found, and these are all of the resinous 
kind. We have had occasion to dig out many of these — strong 
(solid as new some of them,) and highly resinous. The indica- 
tions are that these trees were say 1 to 2 feet in diameter — but 
unlike the ash, these trees never fell down. They must have de- 
cayed standing^ as nothing appears to indicate the remains of a 
fallen tree. 

13. It has not been considered as of much value when used 
fresh from the swamp. 

14. There have been no careful experiments in its use after 
long exposure. 

15. In compost, as an absorbent it has been extensively used, 
and with marked success, thrown into hog pens or put in barn- 
yards. 

16. Method of composting : 2 parts muck with 1 part stable 
manure in a large heap — done in the Spring before the fermen- 
tation of the manure and not stirred — carried upon the land 
the next Spring. 

17. We have mostly used the grassy or surface muck — some- 
times other — all good. 

18. I have used peat for fuel (no wood of any consequence,) 
for some 4 or 5 years. No one else here has employed it. It 
is cut or dug with an instrument such as is used in Ireland. It 
answers for domestic purposes well, hut it must he dry and hept 
dry. Ashes many and valuable only as manure — as they seem 
to contain no potash. In my kitchen stove I have a grate, and 
the ashes descend to a close brick vault below. Carry out a 
load at once — very convenient — peat cheaper than wood. 

Lewis M. Noeton. 



No. 4. — Swamp muck from Messrs. Pond & Miles, Milford. 
Coherent but very light and porous in texture, full of roots and 
stems. Color chocolate brown — surface peat. 



105 



Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in carbonate of soda, 
" " insoluble in " " " 
Total, 


65.15 
11.95 


77.10 


*Inorganic matter, .... 

Water, - - -• - 


- 


3.23 

19.67 



100.00 
Soluble in water, 1.63 
Nitrogen, 1.20 ==1.46 ammonia. 
For answer to circular see No. 5, 



No. 5. — Swamp muck from Messrs. Pond & Miles, Milford. 
Very light and loose in texture. Color, brownish red. When 
dry easily separates into thin layers. Taken from a depth of 
3 feet. 

Analysis. 
Organic matter soluble in water, 

" soluble in carbonate of soda, 

" insoluble in " " " 

Total, 
Inorganic matter soluble in water, 
Insoluble in water, 

tTotal, 
Water, - - - . • 

100.00 
Nitrogen, 0.95=1.15 ammonia. 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The swamp contains 3-4 of an acre. 

2. The depth is 10 feet. 

3. It is not drained. 

4. The water is fresh. 

5. It is dry for three or four months in summer, to the depth 
of 3i feet. 

6. No crops have been raised on it, 

* Mostly sand and oxyd of iron with small quantities of carbonate and sulphat e 
of lime. 

f The ash is white, and besides sand, contains little else than sulphate of lime. 



2.62 




65.13 




16.65 






84.40 


80 




1.20 






2.00 


- 


13.60 



106 

7. The neighboring and underlying soil is sand and coarse 
gravel. 

8. It receives much wash from sandy hills and the highways 
which pass near it. 

9. The swamp has neither inlet nor outlet. The water has 
a dark mahogany colar. 

10 and 11. Two samples were sent, taken from one to three 
feet from the surface. The surface peat (No. 4) is of a darkish 
brown for a depth of two feet. Below it is of a lighter color, 
(No. 5.) 

12. Small maples, black alders and bilberry bushes ; pine 
and white birch trees grow in the swamp. The last named 
predominates. Trunks of trees 8 feet in diameter have been 
found at a depth of several feet in the muck. 

13. The fresh muck has never been applied to crops, but 
where it has been thrown out, vegetation in the shape of weeds 
has been rank on the top of the piles. 

15. The weathered muck has not been used alone on crops. 

15. The muck has been composted to good advantage with 
horse, hog and cow manure. 

16. In composting the materials have been put together in 
laj'ers, one part manure to about three of muck. 

17. I consider the sm-face peat to be the best. 

18. It has not been used for fuel. 

19. I find it a great benefit to my land. 

Wm. J. PoNi). 



No. 6. — Peat from Samuel Camp, Plainville. Dry hard lumps, 
very black and uniform in appearance. 

Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in carbonate of soda, 43.20 
" insoluble " " '^ " 8.90 

Total, 52.10 

^Inorganic matter, .... 29.20 

Water, ..... 18.70 

100.00 

— t, '■ ■ 

* The ash besides a large amount of sand, contains much carbonate and sulphate 
of lime and some oxyd of iron. 



. 107 

Soluble in water, 2.50. 
Nitrogen, 2.10=2.55 ammonia. 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. Length of marsh 1^ miles, width from 25 to 50 rods. 

2. Depth from 2 to 4 feet. 

3. A small part has been drained 7 years to the depth of 4 
feet. 

4. It is a fresh water marsh. 

5. The marsh is dry to the depth of one foot for 3 or 4 
months ; the portion drained is dry to the bottom at all times. 

6. The drained portion was sown with herdsgrass and has 
lain in grass, the herdsgrass has run out and swamp grass has 
come in, except where a kind of clay or earth, a sample of which 
I sent you, was thrown upon the surface and there is found a 
good quality of English grass, no other dressing has been given. 
The average yield is 1^ tons per acre. 

7. The underlying soil is generally gravel and clay ; around 
the marsh are occasional beds of the before-mentioned clay. 

8\ It receives the wash of the mountain that extends through 
Farmington. 

9. It has both inlet and outlet, a living stream of soft water 
sufficient to drive small mills, and subject to heavy freshets. 

12. Oak prevails in the deposit ; elm and maple were grow- 
ing on the marsh when cleared, 

13. When used fresh from the marsh but little advantao;e is 
derived from it, when long exposed and dried considerable ad- 
vantage ; but much the greatest by composting with some kind 
of manure, and the clay before mentioned, which is found in and 
about the marsh, does well used in that way. 

14. This muck is worth for manure half as much as yard 
manure ; when composted it is equal to yard manure. It makes 
a very good soil when used alone on sand. 

15. I find it an excellent absorbent, and sometimes pump 
from a cistern in my yard the liquid it contains, and pour it upon 
piles of muck, which makes it a good fertilizer. I have used it 
with either yard manure, lime, ashes, guano or clay, with about 
equal success. 



108 . 

16. To 1 load of muck, 1 of clay, or ^ yard manure, or 2 
busliels of lime, or 4 bushels of aslies. Tlie clay, lime and ashes 
may be mixed, but the yard manure must be placed in layers so 
as to cause fermentation. 

18. It burns freely, making a very hot fire. 

19. The above described deposit is principally on one main 
stream, but there are spurs running toward the mountain where 
little streams come in that yield the best quality of muck by 
about one-third ; from these I generally dig my supplies. 

This muck deposit is on the east side of the great plain lying 
parallel with the Farmington mountain. On the northwest there 
is a deposit brought down by the Pequabuc, covering perhaps 
a thousand acres, very little of it is drained but that which is 
is very productive. 

Samuel Camp. 



No. 7. — Peat from Eussell U. Peck, Berlin. 


Color chocolate 


brown. 




Anali/sis. 




Organic matter soluble in carbonate of soda, 


88.49 


" insoluble in " " " 


30.51 


Total, 


69.00 


*Iuorganic matter, . . . . 


18.59 


Water, . . . - . 


17.41 



100.00 



Soluble in water, 2.61 

Nitrogen, 1.62=ammonia, 1.97 



ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The swamp is about 60 rods long and 40 broad. It con- 
tains about 5 acres. 

2. The muck is 10 feet deep one rod from the edge ; at two 
rods from the edge it is over 15 feet deep. The greatest or aver- 
age depth is unknown. 

3. Two years ago it was partially drained to the depth of 
two feet, 

* Ash besides much sand, contains a large amount of carbonate and sulphate of 
lime and oxyd of iron. 



109 

4. The water is fresli. 

5. The surface is dry to the depth of one foot. 

6. No crop has been grown on it except coarse grass. 

7. The underlying and adjoining soil is clay and full of rock. 

8. A large amount of water from the adjacent high wood- 
land runs into the swamp. The soil of the hills is a reddish 
loam. 

9. It has both inlet and outlet, and is also fed at the edges 
by springs of cold soft water. It is flooded by heavy rains and 
dries up in summer. 

10. The sample sent, was taken two feet below the surface. 

11. At a depth of 4 feet, the muck has more the appearance 
of leaves and wood ; but after long exposure to the weather it 
turns black and resembles the upper layer. 

12. No trees now grow in the swamp. The vegetation con- 
sists of coarse grasses and brakes. The logs and branches found 
deep in the muck mostly appear to be red ash — none of them 
are pines. 

13. The muck has been used fresh on corn and meadow with 
good effect. 

1-1. The long exposed muck has been used and is equal to 
one-half as much barn-yard manure. 

15. It has been composted with stable manure, with night- 
soil, and hen-dung. The compost of the two latter has had 
wonderful effect upon tobacco. 

16. The composts with night-soil and hen-dung have been 
made under cover, using one part of manure to ten of muck. 
Other manures have been mixed with their own bulk of muck 
in the field. 

18. It has not been used as fuel. 

E. U. Peck. 



110 

No. 8. — Swamp muck from Eev. B. F. Northrop, Griswold. 
The dried masses were light, coherent but easily crushed, were 
of a grajdsh brown color, and much fine white sand was per- 
ceptible in them. 



Analysis, 




Organic matter sok^ble in carbonate of soda, 


42.30 


" insokible in " " . 


10.15 


Total, 


52.45 


*Inorganic matter, 


34.70 


Water, . . . . 


- 12.85 



100.00 
Soluble in water, 1.64. 
Nitrogen 1.31 = 1.60 ammonia. 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The swamp is nearly a triangle with irregular sides, 
containing about 1 acre, 3J rods. 

2. As to depth, the estimated average is 4^ feet. Greatest 
depth dug, 6 feet, from the dip of the sides, greatest estimated 
depth 16 feet. A similar muck bed in an adjoining lot has been 
penetrated to that depth. 

3. It has been drained for 4 years to a depth of two feet. 

4. The water is fresh. 

5. Perfectly dry at the depth of two feet all summer. 

6. It has grown no crop but grass, which has been improving 
in quality since I drained it. No manures have been tried. 

7. As the ditch approached the shallow part of the bed, at 
the depth of 6 feet, a substratum resembling very fine clay, and 
of a very light color, was thrown out. The edges are a gravelly 
loam. 

8. The muck bed receives no wash from hills, 

.9. A stream of soft water runs through the deposit, it comes 
from a large spring, and runs about a quarter of a mile before it 

* Tlie ash is almost entirely white quartz sand, with some sulphate of lime. 



Ill 

enters my lot. In ordinary seasons it will fill a -1 inch pipe. 
Heavy rains make a little torrent of it. But tlie surrounding 
liills are covered with grass and granitic rocks, so there is little 
wash. The stream never dries. It is turned on to the upland 
in summer. 

10. Only one samjjle was sent. 

11. For two feet in depth there is no deviation in quality or 
appearance of the muck. Below that depth, and consequently 
below the water line — the muck assumes a brownish tinge, and 
appears as if the decomposition was not perfected, though on ex- 
posure to frost, I can discover but little difference. 

12. The only vegetation is grass. Oak logs several inches 
through have been dug up, at depths varying from two to four 
feet. Hickory nuts with the shucks on have been found at the 
depth of three feet. No indications of resinous substances have 
been found. Maples and elms grow thriftily at one angle of the 
bog, where no effort has been made to eradicate them. 

13 and 14. The muck has not been used as a manure. 

15. It has been composted with horse-dung, and in some 
instances, ashes, in small quantities. I have raised excellent 
crops of corn and oats, much to the wonder of my neighbors, 
who knew I had the manure of only one horse. I purchased a 
few loads of poor manure last Spring, which together with what 
my horse made, was composted with muck and a few bushels of 
ashes, making about 8 or 10 cords. This was spread on 120 
rods of ground, and ploughed in. The lot was planted with 
corn, (Ehode Island Premium.) The product was 99 measured 
bushels of ears, which is considered a large yield for this section. 

16. In composting, the muck and manure have been spread 
in alternate layers, three of the muck to one of manure. 

19. But little if any use was made of the muck by former 
owners. The impression seemed to be that it would injure the 
land. When I first began to use it, I found many who were 
utterly skeptical as to its value as a manure. 

B. F. Northrop. 



112 

No. 9. — Peat from J. H, Stan wood, Colebrook. Came in hard 
lumps of a chocolate color. Well decomposed. 

Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in carbonate of soda, 49.65 

insoluble in " " " 7.-10 

Total, 57.05 

*Inorganic matter, .... 4.57 

Water, 88.38 



100.00 



Soluble in water, 1.83. 
Nitrogen, 1.23 = 1.50 ammonia. 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The swamp is about 1^ miles in length, and may be 
likened in form to a pair of spectacles. The widest portions are 
about eighty rods in width, and it contains in all about one hun- 
dred and fifty acres. 

2. The depth in the southern portion is probably not more 
than four or five feet on the average ; while in the northern 
portion, from which the sample was taken, the dejjth is so 
great that it cannot be ascertained by any means which I have 
at hand. A pole has been pushed down sixteen feet without 
touching bottom, at the distance of four or five rods from the 
margin. 

3. The swamp has been for the most part drained. 

4. The water is fresh. 

5. The depth of drainage is from one to three feet, and the 
portion from which the sample was taken has been but partially 
drained until within the past four years. 

6. The upper portions are usually dry during the summer to 
the depth of two or three feet. 

7. Excellent crops of potatoes, carrots, turnips, oats and 
grass have been produced on some of the drained portions. The 
only manures used have been ashes and stable manure. Could 

* The ash prepared by me contains besides sand, much sulphate of hme, but no 
carbonate of hme. The ash sent l)y Mr. Stanwood, the full analysis of which is 
given on another page was obviously obtained from a peat found in another part of 
the swamp. 



113 

discover no effect from the ashes. Prefer horse manure to any 
other. 

8. The soil underlying and at the edges of the swamp is 
white sand mixed with stones of various sizes. 

9. The meadow is surrounded with hills, and must undoubt- 
edly receive considerable wash from them. Their soil is a sandy 
loam, rough and rocky in its natural state. 

10. The swamp has both inlet and outlet. The water is soft. 
Shahaugan Brook, which flows through it, is from two to three 
rods in width, and is subject to heavy freshets Spring and 
Autumn, but these are of short duration. 

11. Only one samjDle sent. 

12. The quality of the muck at the place where the sample 
was taken is quite uniform to the depth of four or five feet. 
Below that is peat to depth unknown. 

13. The original growth of timber was ash, maple and pine, 
with some hemlock. Many of the roots and stumps of pine 
still remain in a good state of preservation. Black alder and 
sweet elder, together with the red raspberry, are found among 
the undergrowth. 

1-1. The muck has been nsed to some extent as a top-dress- 
ing for grass and other crops with satisfactory results, although 
no particular benefit was noticeable during the first year. After 
that the effects might be seen for a number of years. 

15. I know of no experiments having been made with a 
view of testing its value after having been long dug, as com- 
pared with stable mannre. 

16. Composting has not, I believe, been practiced to much 
extent. Whenever it has been done, stable manure and ashes 
have been the materials used. Experiments made by myself 
have confirmed me in the opinion that a compost of equal parts 
muck and stable manure is equal to the same quality of stable 
manure. • I found a compost made of two bushels of unleached 
ashes to twenty-five of muck superior to stable manure as a top- 
dressing for grass on a warm, dry soil. We however use it mostly 
as an absorbent, the acidity is corrected by the exposure it re- 
ceives, and much fertilizing matter is saved that would other- 
wise be lost. 



114 

17. My method of composting is as follows : I draw my 
muck to the barn-yard placing the loads as near together as I 
can tip them from the cart. Upon this I spread whatever ma- 
nure or ashes I have at hand, and mix with the cattle's feet and 
heap up with a scraper. I have also my stables arranged under 
one of my barns, so that the muck is mixed with the manure in 
a trench behind the cattle. 

19. The peat has been used merely to test its value as fuel, 
and has proved a superior article, but so long as plenty of wood 
can be had for little more than the labor of getting it, few will 
be willing to substitute peat in its stead. 

John H. Stan wood. 

Colebrook, Nov. 13th, 1858, 



No. 10. Peat from N. Hart, Jr., "West Cornwall. Hard dry 
lumps of a dark brown, almost black color. 

Analysis. 
Organic matter, soluble in carbonate of soda, 55.11 
" " Insoluble in carbonate of soda, 10.29 

Total 65.40 

'^Inorganic matter, - - - 14.89 

Water, .... 19.71 



100.00 
fSoluble in water, 6.20. 
Nitrogen, 2.10=2.55 ammonia. 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The swamp is 100 rods long by 20 wide, contains 12^ 
acres. 

2. Average depth 10 feet. Greatest depth 15 to 20 feet. 

3. It is drained with a ditch four feet deep around the out- 
side, and one 80 rods long through the middle north and south, 
and one east and west at the upper end of the middle. 

4. It is a fresh water swamp. It has been dry 13 years. 

5. It is dry enough the year through to go all over it with 
a team and loaded cart. 

6. We have raised medium crops of corn, potatoes and 

* The ash besides sand contains very much carbonate and sulphate of lime. 
f In the soluble portion are no salts of iron. 



115 

pumpkins. Five acr(?s of it is in upland grasses, and has cut 
three tons per acre. 

Have manured by spreading the ashes produced in burning 
the bogs, in the fall, and with stable manure the next spring, 
and with upland soil from old headlands. 

7. Clay and sand form the adjacent uuderljdng soil. 

8. The swamp receives no wash from hills. 

9. A small stream of soft water runs through the swamp, 
which is sometimes dry in summer, and is never high enough to 
flood the swamp. 

11. The surface deposit to a depth of 18 inches is made up 
of fine decomposed vegetable matter. Below this it is more like 
peat and coarse vegetable matter. 

12. The trees in the swamp are black ash, white maple, and 
recently, willow. We often find the trunks of hemlock trees of 
various sizes, some, 18 inches in diameter, several feet below the 
surface. 

13 and 14. The muck has never been used as a manure. 

15. "We formerly composted it with stable manure, and with 
ashes, but have remodeled our stables, and now use it as an ab- 
sorbent and to increase the bulk of manure to double its original 
quantity, and consider it more valuable than the same quantity 
of stable manure. 

16. Have composted in the yard by putting a layer of muck 
on the ground a foot thick, and then a layer of manure (bv 
wheeling the cleanings of the stables every morning) of about 
f the quantity of the muck, and so on until the pile is comple- 
ted. This should be turned some days before using. 

I have mixed 25 bushels of ashes ^dth the same number of 
loads of muck, and applied it to f of an acre. The result was 
far beyond that obtained by applying 800 lbs. best guano to the v' 
same piece. 

18. Have not given it a fair trial as to its burning qualities. 

19. In the use of muck we proceed as follows : Soon after 
haying we throw up enough for a year's use, or several hundred 
loads. In the fall the summer's accumulation in hog pens and 
barn cellars is spread upon the mowing grounds, and a liberal 
supply of muck carted in and spread in the bottoms of the eel- 



116 

lars ready for tlie season for stabling cattle. When this is well 
saturated witli the drippings of the stables a new supply is 
added. The accumulation of the winter is usually applied to 
the land for the corn crop, except the finer portion which is used 
to top-dress meadow land. A new supply is then drawn in for 
the swine to work up. This is added to from time to time, and 
as the swine are fed on whey, they will convert a large quantity 
into valuable manure for top-dressing mowing land. 

So successful has been the use of it, that we could hardly 
carry on our farming operations without it. 

N. Hakt, Jr. 



No. 11. Swamp-muck from A. L. Loveland, Korth Granby. 
This muck is black, and dried to very hard lumps, in which 
grains of quartz and mica sand are seen. 

Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in carbonate of soda, 
" insoluble in " " 

Total, 
* Inorganic matter. 
Water, . - - - - 



88.27 




2.89 






41.16 




47.21 




11.60 



Soluble in water, 0.75 per cent. 
Nitroo-en 1.00 = 1.22 ammonia. 



100.00 



ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The place from which the specimen sent was taken, is a 
swale extending over a somewhat broken surface of more than 
half a mile in length, though the width, on an average, is not 
more than 15 rods. 

2. The greatest depth will not exceed six feet. Wherever 
the swale is broken, the separation is covered with timber, the 
land is quite stony, and the descent is such that the brook which 
passes through it runs quite rapidly. 

* The ash is cliiefly sand, with a little sulphate of lime. 



117 

3. jSTone of these lands (nor scarcely any in the town,) are 
drained, thougli nothing could return a better profit. 

4. It is a fresh water marsh. 

5. It is constantly wet from springs, and difiicult to cross at 
any season. A yearling steer once sunk and perished in the 
muck. On some portions the surface is tough with grass roots, 
and will roll beneath one's step like the waves upon a lake. 
Springs of water are underneath, and the mud is very soft. 

6. No crops have ever been taken from these lands, except 
perhaps some coarse grass on limited portions. Alders and ma- 
ples are cut off once in twelve years or so. No manures are 
ever put on, and the vast riches of such lands have been hid- 
den until recent agitation of the subject has brought them to 
light. 

7. The base of this muck is mostly a hard-pan mixed with 
stone. The borders have a deep, loamy soil on which apple- 
orchards flourish. The white birch takes root in it whenever it 
is plowed for grain, until vast fields are covered with them. 
They grow rapidly, and when matured are cut and the ground 
cleared for potatoes and grain. 

8. There is not much wash from the hills, but where there 
is any, the soil is a light loam, overlying gravel and sand mixed 
with much stone. 

9. The swale has no inlet but abundant outlet. Sprino-s of 
clear cold water well up mostly from the borders in never-fail- 
ing quantity. These disappear sluggishly over a large surface 
till they reach a rapid descent, when they take the form of a 
brook and circle round opposing elevations of land till they 
reach the larger mill streams in the valleys below. They are 
never dry, and are but slightly affected by storms. 

10-11. The sample sent was from one place, which will fiiirly 
represent most deposits in this township, as there is little varia- 
tion in quality. 

12. The vegetation consists of alders, maples, willows, grape 
vines, flags and a tall, coarse grass. It is pretty free from fallen 
trees. No pines grow on these lands. 

13, 14 and 15. The muck has never been used for any pur- 
pose. It will be used next season for the first time. 



118 

19. In tlie adjoining town of Granville, Mass., similar swales, 
stretching along ttie base of hard-timbered hills, have been 
ditched and converted into mowings worth one hundred dollars 
per acre. Sand from the hills has been spread on them, and the 
best grasses flourish. The material dug from the ditches has 
been carted into barn-yards, and makes excellent manure. These 
lands are the very cream of the farms where they have been 
cleared up. There is no tough compact peat on such lands to 
work ; the material is a rich fine muck or mould. As I have 
said, there is a great extent of such lands, but the farmers have 
never dreamed of their worth. They will now begin to clear 
and ditch them, as most of them can be easily drained. 

A. L, LOVELAND. 



No. 12. Peat from Daniel Buck, Jr., Poquonock, came as 
dry, quite coherent, brick-shaped cakes, well decomposed. Color 
a rich chocolate brown. 

Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in carbonate of soda, 27.19 

insoluble in " " 48.81 



Total, 76.03 

* Inorganic matter, .... 5.92 

Water, ..... 18.05 



100.00 



Soluble in water, 2.91 per cent. 
Nitrogen, 2.40=2.92 ammonia. 
For answer to Circular see No. 13. 



No. 13. Swamp muck from Daniel Buck, Jr., Poquonock. 
This muck forms the light loose surface layers of the peat No. 
12, which it resembles in color. 

* Ash is chiefly carbonate and sulphate of lime, and magnesia. 



119 

Analysis. 

Organic matter, soluble in carbonate of soda, 83.66 

" insoluble in " " " 40.51 



Total, • 7-1.17 

^Inorganic matter, ... 8.63 

Water, - 17.20 



100.00 



Soluble in water, 1.80 per cent. 
Nitrogen, 2.10=2.92 ammonia, 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The swamp contains about 15 acres. 

2. Its deptli at tlie upper end is about 3 feet ; in tlie center 
80 feet. 

3. It was drained in 1851 to an average deptli of 5 feet. 

4. It is a fresli water marsb. 

5. It is dry during the summer, say two feet in deptb. 

6. It has grown potatoes, carrots, corn and cabbages. Can- 
not state amount per acre. Stable manure and aslies from burn- 
ing bogs bave been applied to it, but no special manures. 

7. Sand is tbe underlying and adjacent soil. 

8. The swamp receives no wash from hills. 

9. It has no inlet ; an outlet has been made by draining. It 
is fed by springs of soft water which suffer no freshets, and are 
never dry. 

10. The sample is from one place, and is of average C|uality. 

11. It does not occur in layers, but in masses, though there 
is found occasionally a layer of what is called "Stone Peat." 

12. The trees were cut off in '49 and '50 — oak, hackmatack, 
white pines. 

13. The muck has been applied fresh with good results ; the 
grass is not as tall but thicker and finer and of a darker green 
in the Spring, than when barn-yard manure is spread on in the 
Spring. 

* Asli is like that of No. 12, carbonate and sulphate of lime. By comparing 
this with the precedinj?, it is seen that exposure to the air increases the amount 
of matters soluble in alkalies, but diminishes the portion soluble in water. 



120 

14. Experiments witli the weathered muck have not been 
made in such a way as to give comparison. 

15 and 16. The muck is composted with stable manure in 
proportion of 8 loads of muck and 4 of manure ; but it is prin- 
cipally carted into the barn-yard and pig-styes. The 8 loads of 
muck and 4 of manure when properly forked over, are equal to 
12 loads barn-yard manure on sandy soil. 

17. Muck is the upper crust of swamps, that is, the peat that 
has been exposed to action of frost and rain, of say 15 inches 
depth, under that is the peat. 

19. As fuel it is equal to soft wood — makes as pleasant a 
fire to sit by as Cannel coal or hickory wood. 

Dajn'iel Buck, Je. 



No. 14. Swamp muck from Philip Scarborough, Brooklyn. 

Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in carbonate of soda, 51.45 

" insoluble " " " " 25.00 



Total, 76.45 

^Inorganic matter, .... 7.67 

Water, ..... 15.88 



100.00 



Soluble in water, 1.43. 
Nitrogen, 1.20 = 1.46 ammonia. 

ANSWEES TO CIECULAE. 

1. The swamp contains about one hundred acres. 

2. No bottom has been found at a depth of 12 feet. It is 
probably much deeper. 

3. It is drained to about the depth of 2 feet, and has been so 
beyond my memory. 

4. The water is fresh. 

5. It is dry throughout the season to the depth of 1 foot. 

6. It has once grown potatoes with all appearance of a good 
crop till they were destroyed by a flood. 

* Ash is mostly sulphate of lime, with a Httle carbonate and some sand. 



121 

7. The soil at the edges of the swamp is a yellow mould. 

8. It receives much wash (j^ellow loam) from the adjacent 
hill. 

9. A small brook runs through the swamp which is never 
quite dry, and is subject to heavy freshets. 

10. The one sample sent is from the upper end of the swamp. 

11. The muck is of uniform quality — very open and porous, 
so far as has been observed. 

12. The only trees in the swamp are maples. 

13 and 11. The muck has been dry, and carted in tlie fall, 
spread and plowed in in the spring to great advantage for corn 
crops. I estimate its value at about one-third that of stable-ma- 
nure. 

15 and 16. One load of muck to one of stable-cellar manure 
makes a compost equal to two loads of clear manure. In prepar- 
ing the compost I begin with a layer of muck of 10 inches 
depth. Upon this the manure is spread, and the whole is cov- 
ered -with muck to the depth of one foot. In this way there is 
no loss either by volatilization or leaching. 

18. It burns well when dry, with smell of sulphur. 

(Signed) Philip Scarborough. 

In a communication in the Homestead, Mr. Scarborough saj^s : 
" When of the age of twelve years, my father and self, in the 
fall of the year, carted out of a pond hole upwards of 100 loads of 
muck, which lay during the winter in load heaps, and was spread 
in the spring, plowed in and planted with corn, and I have never 
seen so great a growth of corn since, — at that time, w^hich was 
about fifty-eight years ago, it was a very common practice to 
hoe corn in August, and being the plow boy, I remember that 
when on the horse, the tassels were as high as my head, but 
the grain was lacking at harvesting, the yield being probably 
not over forty bushels to the acre ; it ought to have gone to one 
hundred in proportion to the stalks. 

I have never used the peat in any form when it was decom- 
posed, but ample returns have been made; on corn, oats, rye, 
and grass, it has added one-third to the yield." 



122 

No. 15. — Swamp muck from Adams Wliite, Brooklyn. When 
dry formed hard chocolatq, brown himps. 

Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in carbonate of soda, 54.38 

" insoluble in " " 23.14 



Total, 77.52 

*Inorganic matter, ... - 9.03 

Water, .... - 13.45 



100.00 



f Soluble in water, 5.90. 
Nitrogen 2.89=3.54 ammonia. 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The deposit extends over one acre of surflice. 

2. The depth is from one to 5 feet — average 2^ feet. 

3. It is undrained. 

4. The water is fresh. 

5. The surface is dry for two or three months in summer to 
the depth of 1 to 1|- feet. 

6. No crops have been grown on it. 

7. The soil adjoining and beneath is very hard — partly clay. 

8. The swamp receives little wash. 

9. There is now no inlet or outlet except an old ditch nearly 
filled up, which takes off a small portion of the surface water. 
In winter there is some overflow from rains and snows. 

11. There is little variation in the quality of the muck, ex- 
cept that it is rather firmer in texture at or near the bottom. 

12. The only vegetation on it is coarse grasses and briers. 
13 and 14. No use has been made of the unmixed muck. 

15. The muck has been composted with stable manure from 
cattle, horses and hogs, and also with horn-shavings and bone- 
turnings, 

16. In composting, 20 loads are drawn on to upland in Sep- 
tember and thrown up in a long pile. Early in the Spring 20 
loads of stable manure are laid along side, and covered with the 

* Contains some sand and much snlpliate, 'with a little carbonate of lime. 
f Tliis water solution contains no salts of iron. 



123 

muck. As soon as it lias heated moderately, tlie wliole is forked 
over and well mixed. This compost has been used for corn 
(with plaster in the hill,) on dry sandy soil to great advantage. 
I consider the compost worth more per cord than the barn-yard 
manure. A compost of 500 lbs. of _ horn-shavings to 10 loads 
of" muck and 10 bushels of unleached ashes, made the best ma- 
nure I ever used ; stable or yard manure used beside it did not 
produce more than half as much. I have used the compost 
principally for a corn crop — always with success — also for pota- 
toes. It is not so good for that crop. For small grain it makes 
too much straw, and the grain seed is not so heavy. 
18. It is a poor fuel. 

Adams White. 

Remarks. — This muck, containing 3|- per cent, of potential 
ammonia, besides much salts of lime, is of excellent quality as 
a fertilizer. It is largely soluble in water, (6 per cent.) but no 
injurious iron compounds are found in the solution. It is to be 
regretted, that, as Mr. White informs me, he cannot any more 
excavate it economically, on account of the obstructed drainage. 



No. 16. — Swamp muck from Paris Dyer, Brooklyn. Grayish 
black lumps much admixed with soil and easily crushed. 

Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in carbonate of soda, 18.86 

" insoluble in " " " 5.02 



Total, 23.88 

*Inorganic matter, • - - - - 67.77 

Water, - . . . 8.35 



100.00 



Soluble in water, 2.63. 
Nitrogen, 1.03=1.26 ammonia. 

No answer to the circular was received from Mr. Dyer. 
Though so largely mixed with soil, the muck yields a good per- 
centage of nitrogen and would make a very good absorbent. 

* Tlie ash is mostly sand and soil, and contains but traces of sulphate of lime. 



124 

No, 17. — Swamp muck from Perrin Scarborough, Brooklyn. 
Color chocolate brown. 

Analysis. 
Organic matter *soluble in water, 9.17 

" Insol. in water, but sol. in carb. soda, 35.10 • 

" Insoluble in water and carb. soda, 16.83 



Total, 60.10 

f Inorganic matter, soluble in water, 5.96 

" Insoluble in water, but sol. in carb. soda, 4.22 

" Insoluble in water and carbonate soda, 15.60 



X Total, 25.78 

Water, 14.12 



100.00 



Nitroofen, 0.86=1.05 ammonia. 



ANSWER TO CIRCULAE. 



1. The meadow (bog) is about 40 rods long by 12 rods wide. 

2. The muck is 2^ to 3 feet deep. 

3. It is partly drained by a small stream running along one 
side of the marsh, and also by a ditch dug ten years ago, to the 
depth of 3 feet, and extending one-half the length of the marsh.. 

4. It is a fresh water marsh. 

5. The parts adjoining the ditch are rather dry for two or 
three mouths in summer. 

6. The only yield from the marsh lias been one-half ton of 
poor bog hay per acre. 

7. The adjoining and underlying soil is hard, and ig made 
up of gravel stone and some clay. 

8. There is no wash from the adjacent lands. 

* This determination is not accurate, but includes some sulphuric acid expelled 
from sulpliate of iron by the heat used in burning off the organic matter. 

f Consists mostly of sulphate of protoxyd of iron, (green vitriol) with much sul- 
phate of lime, and a little sulphate of alumina and common salt. 

\ The ash, chiefly oxyd of iron, contains also much sand, as well as the mgredi- 
ents under f. 



125 

9. The stream (of soft water) is not subject to any consider- 
able freshets. 

11. At the place where I took the sample, the surface muck 
to the depth of about 12 inches has a dark color, and then for 
about two feet, is of a reddish appearance and more compact, 
being made up of decayed vegetable matter and some decayed 
limbs of trees. When thrown up to the weather and dried, it is 
as light as a cork. Some portions of it when thrown out to the 
weather for a short time, will be covered with a thin white crust 
that has the taste of alum or saltpetre. 

12. No trees are now growing in the marsh. The branches 
found in the lower muck I should think were pine. 

13. 11 and 15. About the only trial I have made was as fol- 
lows : Seventy-five loads were dug, and left exposed to the 
weather for one year. I then mixed it with stable manure in 
the proportion of five loads of muck to one of manure, and 
applied in the hill to corn, at the rate of about twenty-five loads 
to the acre. The result was not what I expected, although I 
had a fair crop. After two years but little effect could be seen. 

18. It has not been used as fuel. 

Perrin Scarborough. 

Eemarks. — As already mentioned, this is the best charac- 
terized vitriol-muck of any that I have examined. ]\fr. Scar- 
borough says above of this muck, that ^^ some ■portions of it 
when thrown out to the weather became covered with a thin 
white crust that has the taste of alum or saltpetre." Doubtless 
the sample sent for analysis is one of this kind, and therefore 
represents the worst quality. The "thin white crust" is the 
sulphates of iron and alumina, and the presence of these matters 
in the lower muck accounts for the poor growth of grass, and 
for the indifferent results of the trial on corn. 

The use of the/resA muck, if it contained nearly so much sol- 
uble iron compounds as given in the above analysis, would prob- 
ably be destructive to all crops. The use of lime and ashes, or 
long weathering, would correct these bad qualities; and so 
would composting with stable manure,* if the latter were used in 
sufficient quantity ; but the analysis makes it fully evident that 
this is a material to be used with caution. 



126 

IsTo. 18. — Swamp muck from Geo. K. Virgin, CoUinsville. 
Very clrj and liglit, full of fine (grass) roots, whicli make it re- 
tain "when dry tke form in wliich it was cut out. Color liglit 
brownisli gray. " Exposed since last winter." From tlie grass 
roots this is evidently tlie surface muck. 

Analysis. 
Organic matter soluble in water, - . - 2.21 

" insoluble in water but soluble in 

carbonate of soda, (treated four 

times,) - - 20.57 

" insoluble in w^ater and carbonate 

of soda, - - 8.25 



Total, 31.03 

Inorganic matter *soluble in water, - 0.32 

" Insoluble in water but soluble in 

carb. soda, (treated four times), 9.41 
" insol. in w^ater and carb. soda, 8.05 



fTotal, 57.78 

Water, - - - . . - 11.19 



Nitrogen, 0.64=0.78 ammonia. 



100.00 



No, 19. — Swamp muck from Geo. K. Virgin, CoUinsville. 
Quite moist, crumbly; contains much micaceous sand. Color 
chocolate brown. " Taken four feet below the surfece." 

Analysis. 
Organic matter soluble in water, - - 1.12 

" insoluble in water, but soluble 

in carbonate of soda, (treated 
three times,) - - 9.19 

" insoluble in water and carbon- 

ate of soda, - - 5.10 

* Portion soluble iu water coneists chiefly of sulphate of lime and salts of iron ; 
the'latter in the larger jDroportion. 

f The ash consists mostly of sand, yields to acids much iron, a minute quantity 
of sulphate of lime, some magnesia, and a trace of phosphoric acid. It contains no 
carbonate of hmo. [See No."20.] 



127 

Total, .... 15.41 

* Inorganic matter, soluble in water, - 0.28 

" insoluble in water, but sol- 

uble in carbonate of soda, 
(treated tliree times,) 1.08 

" insoluble in water and carbon- 

ate of soda, - - 48.65 



t Total,' - - - - 60.01 

Water, 34.58 



100.00 



Nitrogen, 0.34=0.41 ammonia. 



]vfo. 20. — Swamp muck from Geo. K. Virgin, Collinsville. 
Very moist, well decomposed — not lumpy or coherent. Color 
black. The label was defaced by decay, but the specimen was 
probably taken at a depth intermediate between Nos. 18 and 19. 

Analysis. 

Organic matter, soluble in water, - - 0.72 

" insoluble in water but soluble 

in carbonate of soda, (treated 
four times,) - - 9.31 

" insoluble in water and carbon- 

ate of soda, - - 3.65 



Total, 13.68 

X Inorganic matter, soluble in water, - 0.25 

" insoluble in water but sol- 

uble in carbonate of soda, 
(treated four times,) 0.76 

" insoluble in water and car- 

bonate of soda, - 28.20 

* Portion soluble in water consists principally of sulphate of lime and salts of iron. 

f Ash is mostly sand, with a little sulphate of lime and considerable oxyd of 
iron, soluble in acids. Phosphoric acid and magnesia in traces. [See No. 20. 

X Portion soluble in water consists of sulphate of lime with small quantity of 
salts of iron. 



128 

* Total, .... 29.21 

Water, . - - . . 57.11 

100.00 
Nitrogen, 0.28=0.34 ammonia. 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. Tlie swamp contains 5 acres. 

2. The greatest deptli is 10 feet. The average cleptli 4 feet. 

3. It is undrained. 

4. The water is fresh. 

5. • Parts of the swamp are surface- dry in summer. 

6. No crops have been raised on it. 

7. On one side of the swamp the soil is a sandy loam, and 
the other side gravel. 

8. It does not receive much wash from the surrounding lands. 

9. A small stream fed by springs flows from the swamp. 

10. The three samples were taken from one place. 

11. Little difference in the quality of the muck at various 
depths is observed. 

12. The swamp is occupied by maple, oak and hemlock, with 
some pine and cedar trees. 

13. 14, 15 and 16. The only trial of this muck was made 
with a few loads that had been exposed to the frost one winter. 
It was applied to a piece of sandy, poor land, and the effects, of 
it were astonishing. 

It has not been used as fuel. 

Geo. K. Virgin. 

Remarks. — On reference to the table it will be seen 
that when these three mucks of Mr. Virgin are reduced to the 
same state of dryness, they agree quite closely in composition. 
As their content of ammonia w^hen dry is only about 8-10 per 
cent, and the amount of soluble matters is likewise small, it is 
obvious that the "astonishing" results observed from its use 
must be chiefly ascribed to its phj^sical characters — to its effect 
in correcting the texture and dryness of the "sandy poor soil." 

* Ash almost entirely sand and oxyd of iron, with traces of sulphate of Hrae and 
phosphoric acid. 



129 

No. 21. Salt-marsli muck, Solomon Mead, New Haven. 
Liglit and porous, coherent from grass roots. Color, greyish 
brown. Had been long dug and exposed to air. 

Analysis. 
Organic matter soluble in water, 3.30 

" " insoluble in water but sol. in carb. 

soda, (treated 6 times,) 40.52 

" " insoluble in water and carb. soda, 8.20 

Total, 52.02 

Inorganic matter, *soluble in water, 2.60 

" " insoluble in water, but sol. in 

carb. soda, (treated 6 times,) 10.02 
" " insol. in water and carb. soda, 23.90 



t Total, 86.52 

Water, 11.46 



100.00 



Nitroo-en, 1.51 = 1.81 ammonia. 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The marsh is 3 miles long and 80 rods wide. Its contents 
are estimated at 480 acres. 

2. The average depth is 10 feet ; greatest depth 15 to 20 feet. 

3. The marsh is partially drained, but cannot be made dry 
on account of the setting back of tide-water. 

4. It is one-half salt, and one-half fresh water marsh. The 
sample was taken from the fresh water part. 

5. The surface of the muck is usually dry in summer to the 
depth of one to two feet. 

6. A few crops of potatoes have been grown on it with good 
results ; but grass is the chief product. Guano and yard manure 
have been applied. 

7 and 8. The marsh receives wash from a considerable ex- 
tent of territory, the soil being a sand or sandy loam. 

* Portion soluble in water contains lime and soda in moderate quantity, still 
more sulphuric acid and chlorine. No iron. 

f Ash mostly sand, with much oxyd of iron, some salt and sulphate of lime, 
traces of mao-nesia and phosphoric acid. Exposure has obviously rendered oxjd. 
of iron insoluble. 



130 

9. ■ It has botli iulet and outlet in a stream of soft water two 
rods wide tliat runs tlirougli it, and is subject to freshets, but 
does not dry up in summer. 

11. But little variation in the quality of the muck is observed 
in digging down. 

12. Beside bog-meadow grass, there flourish willow, elm, 
and soft maple trees. But few branches are found in the muck, 
of what kind it is difficult to determine. 

13. The muck has been employed fresh dug for potatoes, &c., 
with very favorable results. 

14. The long dug muck has been applied to crops with less 
favorable results, as far as the present crop is concerned, than 
tliose furnished by good stable manure. 

15. It has been extensively composted with ashes, bones, 
lime, white fish, yard manures, sty and slaughter-yard materials, 
plaster, guano, night soil, &c., &c., with great advantage. 

16. In preparing composts, the pile is commenced by a layer 
of muck say one foot deep, then a layer of yard manure say 8 
inches deep is laid on, and so alternately to the top. For com- 
posts with night soil, I use three or four times its bulk of muck ; 
with guano or ashes the proportion of muck is still increased. 

18. It has not been used to any extent as fuel. 

S. Mead. 



No. 22. Swamp muck from Edv/in Iloyt, New Canaan, light 
and loose in texture, not coherent, much intermixed with soil. 
Color, light brownish grey. 

Analysis. 
Organic matter, soluble in water, - - 2.8-1 

" insoluble in water but soluble in 

carbonate of soda, (treated 

three times,) - 13.12 

" insoluble in water and carbonate 

of soda, - - - 7.55 

Total, ... - 23.81 



131 

Inorganic matter *soluble in water, - - 2.72 

" insoluble in water but soluble 

in carbonate of soda, (treat- 
ed three times, - 19.88 
" insol. in water and carb. soda, 46.80 

t Total, - - . . 63 90 

Water, .... 7^29 



100.00 
Nitrogen, 0.45=0.5-1 ammonia. 

For answer to Circular see No. 24. 



No. 23. Swamp muck (No. 22,) saturated with horse urine, 
having been put under the stalls. Edwin Hoyt, New Canaan. 
Color darker than No. 22. 

Analysis. 
Organic matter, soluble in water, - - 2.34 

" insoluble in water but soluble 

in carbonate of soda, (treated 
three times,) - - 13.49 

" insol. in water and car"b. soda, 8.05 

Total, - - - . 23.88 

X Inorganic matter, soluble in water, - I.54 

" insol. in water but sol. in carb. 

soda, (treated three times,) 12.42 
" insol. in water and carb. soda, 56.20 

§ Total, .... 7Q_;^g 

Water, - - . . 5^93 



100.00 



Nitrogen 0.90=1.09 ammonia. 
For answer to circular see No. 24. 

* Portion soluble in water consists almost entirely of sulphate of iron and per- 
haps organic salts of the same base. No Urae. ' 

f Mostly sand and soil. In the acid solution were found much iron, a little sul- 
phuric acid lime and magnesia, and traces of phosphoric acid.. 
_ X Portion soluble in water contains large quantities of hme, sulphuric acid chlo- 
rine and carbonic acid, but only a slight trace of iron. It thus appears that 
the iron existing in the peat (No. 22) in the soluble form, is rendered insoluble bv 
composting. ^ 

% Ash, as No. 22, but containing larger quantities of sulphuric and phosphoric 
acids, of lime and magnesia. 

9 



132 

No. 24. Swamp muck No. 22 composted witli white fish. 
Edwin Hoyt, New Canaan. Color darker than No. 23. No 
evidence of the fish except a few bones. 

Analysis. 
Organic matter, soluble in water, - 1.15 

" Insoluble in water but soluble 

in carbonate of soda, (treated 
three times,) - - 17.29 

" Insoluble in water and carbon- 

ate of soda, - - 8.00 

Total, .... 26.44 

* Inorganic matter, soluble in water, - 1.67 

" insol. in water but sol. in carb. 

soda, (treated three times,) 14.13 
" insol. in water and carb. soda, 51.10 



t Total, .... 66.90 

Water, .... QM 

100.00 
Nitrogen, 1.01=1.22 ammonia. 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The swamp is nearly square, and contains about 10 acres. 

2. The average depth of muck is about 5 feet. The greatest 
depth is 12 feet or more, although we do not take it out below 
8 feet. 

3. It was drained four years ago to the depth of 5 feet. 

4. It is a fresh water marsh. 

5. The upper portions are always dry to the level of the 
outlet, except as wetted by rains. 

6. Four acres were thoroughly underdrained four years ago, 
and planted with corn and potatoes. The yield of potatoes was 
exceedingly fine. The crop of corn was good — more than an 
average yield. The tillage not being as complete as we desired 

* Portion soluble in water consists principally of sulphate of lime, with only traces 
of iron. In this case, as in No. 23, the soluble salts of iron contained in the peat 
are, by composting rendered insoluble. 

f Ash as Nos. 22 and 23, but sulphuric and phosphoric acids, Ume and magnesia, 
present in still larger quantities. 



133 

for seeding, it was planted with corn the second season. The 
yield was good — full sixty bushels per acre. The third season 
it was seeded with oats, which grew very rapidly and promised 
a large crop, but just as they began to fill, about one-third of 
them lodged. That portion which stood up filled well, and 
yielded at the rate of fifty bushels per acre. This, the fourth 
season, the piece was in grass, the crop was more than average, 
yet would have been larger had not the young grass all been 
killed under that portion of the field where the oats fell. No 
manure has been used on the swamp. 

7. The surrounding soil is gravel, with a mixture of clay. 
The bed of the swamp after the muck is removed, presents a 
very stony surface like that of the neighboring uplands. 

8. The swamp receives but little wash from the adjoining 
hills. 

9. A small stream flows through it that is liable to freshets, 
but never dries up. 

11. There are some variations in its appearance at different 
depths. The first two feet it is very black and crumbly, and is 
made up of very fine particles, I suppose on account of its being 
plowed and exposed to frost and weather. For the next three 
or four feet it has a reddish cast and considerable odor. This 
layer appears to contain more vegetable matter. At this depth 
we sometimes find logs as large as a man's body, and have traced 
out whole trees, which at first are as easily cut through with the 
spade as any part of the muck, but after exposure, they become 
quite hard. This layer we consider the most valuable, and is 
such as I sent you. See No. 22. Below a depth of 6 feet it has 
a lighter color, and contains less vegetable matter. At a depth 
of 8 feet clay predominates, and it is not worth carting out upon 
our soils. 

12. The swamp was once covered with maple, elm, and red- 
ash trees. But for a number of years one-half has been in 
meadow and the other half is covered with bogs. Near the main 
ditch the bogs are rapidly dying out and may be easily kicked 
to pieces, which I attribute to the draining. 

13. It has not been used fresh from the swamp, as we con- 



134 

sider ttiis manner of application very wasteful. "We have al- 
ways composted it except in one instance, which is given below. 

14. The long dug and exposed muck has been once experi- 
mented on as follows: Four years ago, this Autumn, (1858,) 
we drew a large quantity of it upon a field designed for corn 
the following season. A portion of this muck was composted 
with horse-dung, (about 5 of muck to 1 of dung,) the pile heat- 
ed and fermented well and was turned once before using. The 
remainder of the muck was left untouched until about the mid- 
dle of May. At this time the muck and compost were each 
spread and plowed in on separate portions of the field at the 
rate of 40 loads per acre. The result was very marked, and 
was distinguishable as far as the field could be seen. The corn 
where the stable compost was applied showed a decided gain 
over the other parts of the field after it was two weeks old, and 
kept ahead throughout the season. The yield by the compost 
was nearly double that of the clear muck. I do not think the 
yield was much increased by the application of muck alone. 
The oat crop following the corn, was also much the best where 
the stable compost was applied to the other ; so also the grass. 

15. The muck has been much employed by us as an absorb- 
ent. Our horse stables are constructed with a movable floor and 
pit beneath which holds 20 loads of muck of 25 bushels per 
load. Spring and fall this pit is filled with fresh muck which 
receives all the urine of the horses, and being occasionally 
worked over and mixed furnishes us annually with 40 loads of 
the most valuable manure. See jSTo. 23. 

Our stables are sprinkled with muck every morning at the 
rate of one bushel per stall, and the smell of ammonia, &c., so of- 
fensive in most stables, is never perceived in ours. Not only are 
the stables kept sweet, but the ammonia is saved by this pro- 
cedure. Our privies are also deodorized by the use of muck, 
which is sprinkled over the surface of the pit once a week, and 
from them alone we thus prepare annually enough "poudi-ette" 
to manure our corn in the hill. The wagons we use in drawing 
fish in the summer shortly become very offensive from the blood, 
oil &c,, which adheres to them ; but a slight sprinklipg of muck 
renders them perfectly inodorous in a short space of time. 



135 

16. Yery mucli of our muck is composted with yard manure. 
Our proportions are one load of manure to tliree of muck. I 
think as much muck should be used as can be made to heat 
properly. The quantity varies of course with the kind of ma- 
nure employed. 

We use muck largely in our barn-yards, and after it becomes 
thoroughly saturated and intermixed with the droppings of the 
stock, it is piled up to ferment, and the yard is covered again 
with fresh muck, AVe are convinced that the oftencr a compost 
pile of yard manure and. muck is worked over after fermenting, 
the better. We work it over and add to it a little more muck 
and other material, and the air being thus allowed to penetrate 
it, a new fermentation or heating takes place, rendering it more 
decomposable and valuable. 

During the present season, (1858,) we have composted about 
200,000 white fish with about 700 loads (17,500 bushels,) of 
muck. We vary the proportions somewhat according to the 
crop the compost is intended for. For rye we apply 20 to 25 
loads per acre of a compost made with 4,500 fish, (one load) and 
with this manuring, no matter how poor the soil, the rye will 
be as large as a man can cradle. Much of ours we have to reap. 
For oats we use less fish, as this crop is apt to lodge. For corn, 
one part fish to ten or twelve muck is about right, while for 
grass or any top-dressing, the proportion of fish may be in- 
creased. 

We find it is best to mix the fish in the summer and not use 
the compost until the next spring and summer. Yet we are 
obliged to use in Sept. for our winter rye a great deal of the 
compost made in July. Vie usually compost the first arrivals 
of fish in June for our winter grain ; after this pile has stood 
three or four weeks it is worked over thoroughly. In this space 
of time the fish become pretty well decomposed, though they 
still preserve their form and smell outrageously. As the pile 
is worked over, a sprinkling of muck or plaster is given to re- 
tain any escaping ammonia. At the time of use in September 
the fish have completely disappeared, bones and fins excepted. 

The effect on the muck is to blacken it and make it more loose 
and crumbly. As to the results of the use of this compost, we 



136 

find them in the highest degree satisfactory. We have raised 
80 to 35 bushels of rye per acre on land that without it could 
have yielded 6 or 8 bushels at the utmost. This year we have 
corn that will give 60 to 70 bushels per acre, that otherwise 
would yield but 20 to 25 bushels. It makes large potatoes, 
excellent turnips and carrots. 

18. It is not suitable for fuel. 

19. I will add one other fact relative to its absorbent power. 
We collect the (human) urine in barrels conveniently disposed 
about our premises. One of these having become fall and very 
offensive, I proposed to filter it through muck. Another barrel 
was accordingly filled with the latter and the putrid urine 
poured upon it. Although the stench of the urine was so in- 
tense that it was hardly possible to proceed with the operation, 
it was all filtered through the muck, and came out perfectly clear ^ 
odorless, and with no more taste than pure water ivoidd acquire hy 
runyiing through the muck. 

Edwin IIoyt. 

Remarks. — When we compare the quality of the muck em- 
ployed by the Messrs. Hoyt, as shown by the analysis, with the 
great results they have made it yield in their favor, we have a 
fine illustration of the merits of muck as an absorbent and 
amendment. 

The muck is of poor quality, containing in the dry state but 
twenty-six ^er ce?i< of organic matter and one-half of one.^^er 
cent of potential ammonia, and being in the fresh state consider- 
ably charged with salts of iron, But the composts with horse- 
iirine and with fish are admirable fertilizers, as proved by anal- 
ysis, and especially by the crops grown with their aid. In the 
composts we find all the iron insoluble, and as stated p. 131, the 
percentages of ammonia doubled. The Messrs. Hoyt would 
have found it impossible to economize their manure in any other 
way to nearly the extent they are enabled to do bj^ the use of 
muck, which, though it must be hauled up a long steep hill, at 
great expense, is of incalculable advantage to their fiirm. It 
must not be forgotton, however, that the success of the Messrs. 
Hoyt is due not only to the use of muck, but also to the enter- 
prise which they expend in laying hold of every form of fertil- 



137 

izing material witTiin their reach, and to their systematic employ- 
ment of thorough drainage, deep tillage and all other scientific 
improvements. 

No. 25. Swamp muck from A. M. Haling, Rockville, fresh 
dug. Color snuff-brown, with a little white fiber. 

Analysis. 
Organic matter soluble in water, - - . 3.43 
" insol, in water but sol. in carb. 

soda, (treated eight times,) - 52.15 
" insol. in water and carb. soda, 8.65 



Total, 61.23 

Inorganic matter *soluble in water, - - 0.35 

" insol. in water but sol. in carb. 

soda, (treated eight times,) 0.16 
" insol. in water and carb. soda, 4.90 



t Total, 5.11 

Water, 30.36 



Nitrogen 1.62=1.97 ammonia. 
For answer to circular see No. 26. 



No. 26. Swamp muck, A. M. Haling, Rockville, like No. 
25, but exposed two years. 

* Portion soluble in water consists chiefly of sulphate of lime; contains a trace 
of salts of iron. 

\ Contains much sand, no carbonate of lime, much oxyd of iron, some sulphate of 
lime and magnesia, and more phosphoric acid than most of the peats that I have ex- 
amined. 



138 

Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in water, - - 8.87 

" insol. in water but sol. in carb. 





soda, (treated eight times,) 


71.57 


(( 


insol. in water and carb. soda, 


S.M 


Total, 


• . - . - 


83.88 


* Inorganic matter soluble in water, 


0.23 


u 


insol. in water but sol. in 
carb. soda, (treated eight 






times,) - - - 


0.00 


u 


insol. in water and carb. 






soda, (3.70 ?) 


1.98:t 


i Total, 


- 


2.21 


Water, 


- - 


13.91 



100.00 
Nitrogen, 132=1.60 ammenia. 

ANSWEKS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The swamp from which Nos. 25 and 26 were dug is oval 
in shape and contains about five acres. 

2. The greatest depth of muck or peat is ten feet, averaging 
about two feet. 

3. It is not drained. 

4. It is fresh water. 

5. It is dug in very dry summers to the depth of four to live 
feet. 

6. Ko crops have been raised on the swamp. 

* Portion soluble in water consists chiefly of sulphate of lime and salts of iron- 
f This peat yields upon ignition 2.21 per cent of ash, (average of two determina- 
tiQns — 2.18 per cent and 2.23 per cent). Deducting the amount of inorganic mat- 
ter soluble in water, (0.23 per cent) there should remain 1.98 per cent as the amount 
of inorganic matter insoluble in water and carl^onate of soda. But the residue, in- 
soluble in carbonate of soda j-ields 3. TO per cent of ash. As all traces of carbon- 
ate of soda were thoroughly removed by repeated treatments with Ijoiling water, 
may not this discrepancy in the result be due to the fact that a portion of the soda 
has formed an insoluble combination with the organic matter that it was not capa- 
ble of dissolving (?) 

X Ash as No. 25. 



139 

7. The soil at the edges of the swamp is quite gravelly and 
open, underlaid with fine sand. At the depth of five to six feet 
underlying the swamp, is the hardest kind of gravel that I ever 
saw. 

8. The swamp does not receive wash from any source, the 
land surrounding it being nearly level. 

9. The swamp has neither inlet or outlet. 

10. The two samples 25 and 26 are from one place. 

11. There is not any perceptible variation in the quality of 
the muck at different depths. 

12. The swamp is covered with a small bush resembling the 
low laurel, with an occasional stunted maple. 

13. 14:, 15, 16, 17 and 18. Has not been used either as a 

manure absorbent or fuel. 

A. M. Haling. 

Eemarks. — If Mr. Haling succeeds in drying this swamp 
which he is engaged in trying to effect by digging a well near 
it, he will doubtless find this muck an excellent absorbent, and 
adjunct to mineral manures. The inorganic matters are small 
in quantity, but, after exposure, of good quality. Salts of lime 
and phosphoric acid are present in larger relative quantity than 
usual. 



No. 27. — Swamp muck from A. M. Haling, Eockville. Fresh 

dug; color, snuff" brown. "A good substitute for b'arn-yard 

manure." 

Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in water, - - - 3.87 

" insol. in water but sol. in carb. 

soda, (treated seven times,) 44.04: 

" insol. in water and carb. soda, 4.25 

Total, 52.16 

Inorganic matter ^soluble in water, - 0.51 

" insol. in water but sol. in carb. 

soda, (treated seven times,) 4.07 
" insol. in water and carb. soda, 5.05 

* Portion soluble in water contains iron and sulphuric acid in considerable quan- 
tities, lime and curbonic acid small. 



140 

* Total, 9.63 

Water, 88.21 

100.00 

Nitrogen 1.88 = 2.28 ammonia. 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The sample No. 27 is from a swamp of about 10 rods in 
width and 80 rods in length. 

2. The average depth is about 18 inches, while in holes of 
20 to 50 feet in diameter it is 8 to 10 feet" deep. 

3 and 5. It is drained and is dry to the depth of 2 feet below 
the surface. 

4, It is a fresh water swamp. 

6. During the four years since it was drained it has produced 
grass at the rate of 1^ tons of hay per acre. 

7. The adjoining and underlying soil is a black loam with 
clay subsoil, except at the lower end of the swamp where it is a 
coarse gravel, 

8. It does not receive much wash, as there is no stream run- 
ning through it, 

12. Oak trees of 12 to 15 inches diameter have been found 
in some of the holes spoken of, at a depth of 2 to 4 feet below 
the surface. 

13. The muck has only been used as a top-dresssing on grass 

and with excellent results. 

A. M. Haling. 

Eemarks. — Ammonia and phosphoric acid are both present 
in this muck in considerable quantity, the soluble salts of iron 
are not abundant enough to be detrimental ; sulphates and car- 
bonates of lime and magnesia are also contained in it. The 
swamp is small, is surrounded with a rich surface soil, rests on a 
retentive clay bottom, had no outlet, and for years has been a 
repository for the leaves and debris of a hard- wood vegetation, 
latterly of grasses, so that taking into the account its amending 
qualities, we cannot wonder that it should be a " good substitute 
for barn-yard manure on light gravelly soils." 

* Ash contains much sand and oxyd of iron, but also considerable quantities of 
magnesia, carbonate, sulphate and some phosphate of lime. 



141 

No. 28. Peat from Albert Day, Brooklyn. Color very dark 
brown, almost black, quite coherent and hard, even when not 
dry. Thoiiglit to be injurious to crops. 
Organic matter soluble in water, - - 2.45 

" insol. in water but sol. in carb. 

soda, (treated nine times,) 46.25 

" insol. in water and carb. soda, 6.35 



Total, 55.05 

Inorganic matter ^soluble in water, - 0.32 

" insol. in water but sol. in carb. 

soda, (treated nine times,) 0.65 

" insol. in water and carb. soda, 6.40 

t Total, 6.37 

Water, 88.58 



100.00 



Nitrogen, 0.84=1.02 ammonia. 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The swamp is nearly circular, and covers about one-fourth 
of an acre. * 

2. It lies in a sort of basin ; about twelve feet deep in the 
center, and but a few inches at the edge. 

3. It is not drained. 

4. It is a fresh water marsh. 

5. The upper portion is dry eight or ten inches in very dry 
seasons only. 

7. The soil underlying and at the edges of the swamp is sand 
and clay. 

8. It does not receive any wash from hills. 

9. The swamp has an outlet where a small quantity of water , 
is discharged in wet weather only. I think the water is soft. 

* Portion soluLlo in water consists mostly of sulphate of lime and a trace of iron. 
No carbonic acid. 

I Ash nearly free from sand, contains much iron, considerable sulphate of lime, 
a little carbonate of lime, and traces of magnesia and phosphoric acid. 



142 

10. Two samples sent in one box from different places in tlie 
swamp.* 

11. The muck at the surface to the depth of sixteen or eigh- 
teen inches is quite black, with less appearance of undecayed 
vegetable matter than it has below that depth, where it begins to 
have a reddish color, and at the depth of 2^ or 3 feet is quite 
red, or brown, to the bottom of the deposit. 

12. A few stinted maples, coarse grass and moss grow on it. 
At the depth of four or six feet, logs and limbs are found, which 
resemble cedar or hemlock more nearly than anything else. 

18. It has not been used fresh. 

1-4. This muck was applied 20 years ago by my father, and 
he thought it very useful, though no such definite trials were 
made as to test its value satisfactorily. I have used it in large 
quantities in my hog and cattle yards, (before completing my 
barn-cellar) but have seen no more benefit from it thus employed 
than fiom loam (from the roadside or head-lands on my fields) 
used in the same manner. This led me to attempt testing it 
more carefully. 

In 1852 I carted out 250 to 300 loads of the peat and piled it 
on a lot adjoining the swamp. After six months had expired I 
drew most of it into my j^ards, leaving 8 or 10 loads in the field. 
Here .it remained two winters, covering a space of about a square 
rod to the depth of six inches. It was then plowed in and the 
field planted to corn. The soil was light and friable, resting on 
a loose sandy or gravelly sub-soil. The whole field was other- 
wise manured alike. The only difiference I could perceive in 
the corn upon the two portions, was not in favor of the peat ; it 
diminished rather than increased the growth, and during several 
following years the succeeding crops of oats and grass were less 
where the peat had been applied. One load of muck was used 
as a top-dressing for grass which looked fresh for a few days, 
but no material effect was produced upon the quantity of hay. 
Two loads were taken to my orchard and a bushel put around 
each tree and worked into the soil, and the growth was less than 
during any previous year, 

* When the box was opened the different samples could not be distinguished by 
appearance, and one analj'sis was made on a mixture of several fragments. 



us 

15 and 16. Having heard of tlie advantages of composting 
muck with, soda asli and guano, I purchased a quantit}'- of each 
for trial. Ten loads (thirty bushels each) of muck were com- 
posted with 175 lbs. soda ash, and ten loads of muck with 175 
lbs. of guano,* and these composts were used separately on my 
corn land at the rate of 50 loads per acre, sown broadcast and 
thoroughly harrowed in. The corn on the plots thus treated, 
gave about the same yield as on the remainder of the field that 
was dressed with 12 loads of hog-manure per acre. An adjoin- 
ing field had been manured with long manure and planted with 
potatoes. I selected twelve rows and put into each bill, on six 
of them, a fall shovel full of the soda-ash compost, and on the 
remainder as much of the guano compost, and I am decidedly 
of the opinion that the corn was poorer where the muck com- 
posts were applied, than elsewhere. 

18. The peat has not been used as fuel. 

Albert Day. 

Eemarks. — I could l)ut feel much interest in the result of the 
analysis of Mr. Day's muck after hearing from his own lips the 
account of its failure to do any good, or rather of its positively 
deleterious action. I was therefore surprised to find nothing 
in the sample he sent that would account for its ill effects. Still 
I am able to gather from the letters of Mr. Day, what is doubt- 
less the true state of the case. 

Mr. Day wrote me in one of his interesting letters as follows : 
"I have noticed when plowing the field adjoining the muck 
swamp, that near the latter a deep furrow of eight or ten inches 
would bring up a reddish, rather hard substance, resembling iron 
rust, and the peat at the depth of four feet has nearly the same 
reddish color," 

Further, the muck of Mr. Day's sending, though containing but 
very little soluble salts of iron, does contain much oxyd of iron, 
and as Mr. Day excuses his delay in sending it (June 1858,) on 
account of water in the swamp, it is probable that the samples 
he did send were surface specimens perhaps from the margin of 
the swamp that had been, accordingly, exposed to air and washed 

* I have always doubted the genuineness of this guano. 



so tliat tliey do not represent the mass of the muck, which is 
probably more or less impregnated with soluble iron compound. 

The swamp is an undrained basin that only discharges water 
in wet weather, consequently the mass of muck retains any in- 
jurious matters that may find their way into it. 

But why should these ill results follow when " the muck in 
each instance of experiment has been exposed to the atmosphere 
a year or more and not used in a raw state ?" The muck itself 
is quite coherent and hard even when not dry, and we can read- 
ily understand that if thrown up in a high heap, a year's expo- 
sure might not suffice to oxydize or wash out the iron, and from 
the trials with it after use as an absorbent in the yards, it would 
seem that the quantity of injurious iron compounds in it is quite 
large at first. 



jq'o, 29. — Peat from Chauncey Goodyear, Beaver Pond, New 

Haven. Very hard, tough, black cakes, that had to be cut with 

a hatchet in order to be reduced to powder. ''As- good as fresh 

cow- dung." 

A7ialysis. 

Organic matter soluble in water, - - 1.80 

" insoluble in water but soluble in 

carbonate of soda, (treated eight 

times,) - - 45.42 

" insoluble in water and carbonate 

of soda, - - 10.35 

Total; 57.57 

Inorganic matter *soluble in water, - 0.35 

" Insoluble in water but soluble in 

carb. soda, (treated eight times), 7.98 
" insol. in water and carb. soda, 18.80 

fTotal, 27.13 

Water, 15.30 



Nitrogen, 1.68=2.04 ammonia. 



100.00 



* Portion soluble in water consists principally of sulphate and carbonate of lime 
and salts of iron ; contains traces of chlorine. 

f Much fine sand, with oxyd of iron, and some carbonate and sulphate of lime, 
and traces of phosphoric acid and magnesia. 



145 



ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 



1. The Beaver Pond swamp is about one mile long by one- 
fourth of a mile wide. 

2. The muck has been excavated to the depth of eight feet, 
and is probably much deeper. 

3. The swamp has been more or less ditched, but not drained. 
4 and 5. The water is fresh and soft, and stands at nearly the 

same level throughout the year, except at — 

6. The upper end which is higher and where several acres 
have been cultivated, and always give good crops even in the 
dryest seasons, 

7. The soil adjoining is sand and gravel. 

8. There is some wash from the adjacent lands. 

11. Where the sample was taken, the muck is of nearly uni- 
form quality at all depths, though somewhat lighter at the depth 
of four feet. 

12. The vegetation in the swamp consists of coarse grass and 
other aquatic herbage together with willow and cedar trees. 

13. The muck has been largely used in the fresh state, and 
in this condition is as good as cow-dung. 

15. The muck has been variously composted, especially with 
fish and with excellent results. 
18. It makes good fuel. 

Chauncey Goodyear. 

Eemarks. — This muck lying near the city of New Haven, 
is in great request in the city gardens, and the ownership of the 
swamp itself is divided among many persons, who find it ex- 
tremely useful to give body and retentiveness to the hungry city 
soil. The analysis shows that its direct fertilizing qualities are 
also by no means inconsiderable, and it deserves to come into 
still more extensive use. 



No. 30. — Salt marsh muck from Kev. Wm. Clift, Stonington. 
Color rich snuft'-brown. 



146 

Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in water, 8.33 

" Insol. in water, but sol. in carb. soda, 51.68 

" Insoluble in water and carb. soda, 9.80 



Total, 61.81 

* Inorganic matter, soluble in water, 2.82 

" Insol. in water, but sol. in carb. soda, 7. 0.00 
" flnsol. in water and carbonate soda, (7.45?) 6.16 



X Total, 8.68 

Water, 26.51 



100.00 



Nitrogen, 0.95=1.16 ammonia. 

ANSWEES TO CIRCULAR. 

1. Tbe marsli embraces about nine acres, lying immediately 
nortb of tbe track of the Providence & Stoningtou railroad. 
It is about tliree times as long as broad. 

2. Average depth 5 feet ; greatest 8 feet. 

3. Drained 18 inches deep. 

4. Originally a fresh-water swamp, until a hundred years 
ago or more, when the tide broke in. A foot or more on top is 
made up of marine deposite. A tide gate was put in in the fall 
of 1855. 

5. The water stands about 18 inches below the surface during 
the summer. 

6. Fine crops have grown upon it this season ; two tons or 
more to the acre of herds-grass and clover, good corn, potatoes, 
beans and turnips on a small portion. The manures used were 
pig- dung, superphosphate of lime and horse flesh composted 
with muck for the hoed crops. 

* Portion soluble in water contains sulphuric acid, soda and chlorine in considera- 
ble quantities, as also traces of lime and iron. No carbonic acid. 

■j- See note under No. 26. 

jj. Ash contains large quantities of sulphuric acid, lime and magnesia, considerable 
common salt, traces of phosphoric acid. 



147 

7. The soil underlying and near is a clayey gravel and yellow- 
isli loam. 

8. Very little wasli is received by tlie marsh. 

9. A small brook runs through the marsh, say four months in 
winter and sjiring, coming down from drained swamps above. 
The brook is sometimes swollen full, but is dry in summer. 

10. The sample was taken from various parts of the marsh. 

11. Not much difference is observable in the character of the . 
muck at various depths after passing through the salt marsh 
turf — decayed stumps and logs are common, mostly maple. 

12. Once the whole was probably a maple swamp, with other 
swamp brush-wood. 

13. It has not been used fresh ; is too acid ; even potatoes 
do not yield well in it the first season, without manure. 

14 and 15. Nearly all the muck used has been composted 
with stable manures — fish, lime, &c. It makes excellent bed- 
ding kept in the stables, and when applied to crops has alv'ays 
given good returns. 

16. No accurate rules are observed in composting. Three 
or four loads of muck to one of stable manure, put together in 
the fall or winter in alternate layers, and forked over twice be- 
fore spreading and plowing in, may represent the method of 
composting. 

I consider a compost made of one load of stable manure and 
three of muck, equal in value to four loads of yard manure. 
Almost all garden plants, particularly grape vines and strawberry 
plants, show a strong affinity for the undecomposed bits of salt 
marsh turf in the soil. The roots are matted in with it, so that 
it is impossible to separate them. 

18. It has been used some for fuel, and though not first rate, 
burns well. 

19. I consider the salt marsh as reclaimed worth three hun- 
dred dollars an acre, and think it will pay the interest on that 
sum as long as it is properly cared for. These marshes are amono- 
the most valuable grass lands in the state, and ought to receive 
the immediate attention of their owners. 

W. Clift. 
10 



148 

Eemarks. — There is one point in tlie history of this muck 
that deserves further notice. Mr. Clift mentions that it is not 
applied in the fresh state — " it is too acid " and requires exposure 
before it can be used profitably. 

By the term " too acid " Mr, Clift doubtless intends merely to 
designate in the customary manner its hurtful quality when fresh, 
without exj^ressing a definite opinion as to the cause. The pres- 
ence of so much (8.4 per cent, of the dry muck) soluble matters 
is the reason why it must be weathered or composted, and these 
soluble bodies are chiefly common salt, sulphate of magnesia, 
and perhaps alkaline crenates and humates, which are partly 
washed out or destroyed by weathering. It is probably these 
saline matters toward which the affinity of the roots of vegeta- 
bles and garden plants is especially manifested. 

It is not unlikely that in some parts of the marsh, sulphate of 
iron may be found, as is the case with the salt marsh mud. No, 
33 from the same vicinity. 

No, 31, — Swamp muck from Henry Keeler, South Salem, 
N. Y, Dug April, 1858, Color, light snuff-brown. 

Analysis. 
Organic matter soluble in water, 2.13 

" " insoluble in w^ater but sol. in carb. 

soda, (treated 8 times,) 45.12 

" " insoluble in water and carb. soda, 12.05 

Total, 59.80 

Inorganic matter, ^soluble in water, 0.78 

" " insoluble in water, but sol. in 

carb. soda, (treated 8 times,) 3.79 
" " insol. in water and carb. soda, 16.70 

t Total, 21.27 

Water, 19.43 



100.00 



Nitrogen, 1.57 — 1.90 ammonia. 



* Portion soluble in water contains much sulphuric acid and iron, also lime in 
considerable quantity. 

f Ash contains much sand, and large quantities of carbonate and sulphate of 
lime, with oxyd of iron, magnesia and phosphoric acid. 



149 



ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 



1. The swamp contains about one-half acre. 

2. The greatest depth of muck is 10 feet, the average 5 feet. 

3. It was partially drained a few years ago by ditches 3 or 4 
feet deep. 

4. The water is fresh, 

5. During summer the muck is dry to the depth of 3 to 4 ft. 

6. No crops have been cultivated in the swamp. 

7. The swamp is underlaid by rock, the soil about is clay 
loam. 

8. The swamp receives some wash from a steep granite hill 
covered with a rocky soil. 

9. The inlets and outlets are small but permanent springs. 

11. The muck is alike at all depths as far as drained. 

12. The vegetation consists of a few small ash, white wood, 
and soft maple trees and swamp weeds. It is too much shaded 
for grasses. 

13. Has been used in the fresh state applied to corn and 
potatoes, and appears to be equal to good barn manure. 

14. It has rarely been weathered more than two months, and 
then applied side by side with the best yard manure has given 
equally good results. 

15 and 16. Has been composted with an equal quantity of 
yard manure to advantage. 

19. When dry this muck is friable and easily pulverized. I 
have used it fresh dug with potatoes, putting about two quarts 
in the hill and dropping the potato on it, and the yield was one- 
eight more than on the same soil without muck. 

Henry Keeler. 

Eemarks. — This muck hardly differs from leaf-mould, and 
since it contains all the mineral matters of leaves as well as a 
good percentage of potential ammonia, it is readily understood 
how it may equal good yard manure in its effects. 



No. 32. — Peat from John Adams, Salisbury, (Falls Village.) 
Color, light snuff-brown, overlies a bed of shell-marl. 



150 



Analysis. 

Organic matter, soluble in water, - - 1.71 

" insoluble in water but soluble in 

carbonate of soda, (treated 

eight times,) - 42.87 

" insoluble in water and carbonate 

of soda, - - - 10.65 



Total, 


. - - - 




55.23 


* Inorganic matter, soluble in water. 


1.02 




u 


insoluble in water, but sol- 
uble in carbonate of soda. 








(treated eight times,) 


1.33 




11 


insoluble in water and carbon- 








ate of soda. 


14.35 




t Total, 




16.70 


Water, 


- 




28.07 



100.00 
Nitrogen, 1.76=2.14 ammonia, 

ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 

1. The lot containing the muck and marl (No. 34,) is about 
50 rods long, and from 15 to 20 wide, and contains about 5 acres. 

2. The average depth of the muck is about 5 feet and in 
some places it is 12 feet deep. 

3. It is drained 12 inches deep. 

4. It is a fresh water swamp. 

5. It is difficult to drive oxen on most of it except in the 
very dryest times. 

6. Never has been cultivated ; produces nothing but coarse 
grass. 

7. The neighboring ■ soil is sand underlaid by a blue hard 
pan. 

* Portion soluble in water contains much sulphate of lime, with traces of salts 
of iron, cliloride of sodium and silica. The ash contains some carbonic acid. 

\ Ash consists of sand, with much oxyd of iron, mucli carbonate and sulphate 
of lime, traces of magnesia and phosphoric acid, no potash. 



151 

8. The swamp receives a good deal of wasli from the high 
hills west of it. 

9. It has large springs for inlets, and sulRcient outlet. The 
water is hard. In freshets has a quick flooding of water from 
large hills. 

11. Tliere appears not to be any perceptible differences in the 
layers of muck. 

12. The swamp was formerly covered with alders, should 
think pine had grown there generations ago. 

13. Some of the muck has been used fresh from the swamp 
with very little effect. 

1-1. The exposed muck does not compare as a fertilizer with 
any of the ordinary manure. 

15. I have used the muck as an absorbent in my hog-pen, 
and also mixed with stable manure, with good results. 

16. Have not composted in any other yvay than specified 

in 15. 

18. The muck burns pretty well as fuel. 

John Adajis. 



152 



APPENDIX. 



No. 33. — Salt marsli mud from Eev. Wm. Clift, Stonington. 
Color wlien dry dark ash-gray. 

Analysis. 

Organic matter, soluble in water, - - 5.40 

" insoluble in water but soluble 

in carbonate of soda, (treated 
five times,) - - 16.72 

" insoluble in water and carbon- 

ate of soda, - - 7.25 



Total, .... - 29.37 

* Inorganic matter, soluble in water, - 7.'40 

" insoluble in water but sol- 

uble in carbonate of soda, 
(treated five times,) 6.10 

" insoluble in water and car- 

bonate of soda, - 48.05 



t Total, .... 61.85 

Water, ..... 8.78 



100.00 



Nitrogen, 1.32=1.59 ammonia. 

Eemarks. — This mud is " from the bottom of a salt marsh 
ditch where the tide flows daily." After such treatment as is 
adapted to remove or decompose the soluble iron salts, (compost- 

* Portion soluble in water contains sulphuric acid, chlorine, iron, lime, potash 
and soda in large quantities. 

\ Ash chiefly sand, yields to acids much oxyd of iron, sulphates of lime, iron and 
magnesia, also potash and soda \ni\\ traces of phosphoric acid. This marsh 
mud yields to pure water sulphate of protoxyd of iron (green vitriol,) in small 
quantities, and when burned, pungent vapors of sulphuric acid are expelled 
from it. 



153 

ing with lime, fisli or stable manure,) this mud must make an 
excellent fertilizer, as it contains much more saline matters than 
are met with in any muck or peat, and is by no means deficient 
in nitrogen. The quantities at the disposal of the farmers along 
Long Island Sound are immense. 



No. 84. — Shell marl, from John Adams, Salisbury (Falls Vil- 
lage P. 0.) This material underlies the muck No. 82, forming 
a bed 8 or 10 feet thick. When air dry it gave the following 
results : 

Aiiali/sis. 

Organic matter soluble in water, - - 0.70 

" insoluble in water, - 6.82 



Total, 6.52 

Inorganic matter, ^soluble in water, - - 1.42 

" insoluble " - - 61.44 



t Total, 62.86 

Water, ..... 80.62 



100.00 



Remarks. — Mr. Adams writes that he has applied this marl to 
grass land without perceiving any benefit. Probably an appli- 
cation of it to light poor land would be found useful, and it is 
worth extended trial. 



No. 85. — Mud from beneath marsh muck No. 21, from Solo- 
mon Mead, New Haven. Described as "clay muck." "Has 

* Portion soluble in water consists chiefly of sulphate of lime, with traces of salts 
of iron and potash. 

I An analj-sis of this marl made by ilr. E. IL Twining, after drying it completely, 
is as follows : — 

Carbonate of lime, ....... 83.45 

Organic matter, - - - - - - - 8.13 

Sand, ...--.... 2.71 

Oxyd of iron and alumina with traces of sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, 

potash and magnesia, - - • - - - 5.11 

100.00 



154 

sufficient tenacity to make bricks." " Excellent for improving 
the physical characters of sandy soils." 

Analysis. 

Organic matter soluble in water, - - 0.88 
" insol. in water but sol. in carb. 

soda, (treated three times,) 8.70 

" insol. in water and carb soda, 3.95 



Total, 8.53 

Inorganic matter ^soluble in water, - - 1.90 

" insol. in water but sol in carb, 

soda, (treated three times,) 18.37 
" insol in water and carb soda, 67.35 



t Total, 87.62 

Water, 3.85 



100.00 



* Portion soluble in Avater contains mneh sulphate of lime and some salts of iron, 
with a small quantity of chloride of sodium. Contains also some silica, but no car- 
bonic acid. 

f Ash mostly a fine sand, with some clay; yields much imn and some sulphate 
of lime, and map-nesia to acids.. 



155 

11. Tabulated Analyses. 



Ammonia. 
Nitrogen. 



^1— ico>r5mJc-oomiMc^c>icr>-J*tDi.'5 

C-1 Ci 1— ^ r-^ CI "-H t— I 1 — ( C^l »— I O-l C^l F-H CO »— t T— ( 

I II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II 

lOOOOOOIf— iCOOOOOOOCOtT) 

coC5c<iC5r— iocoiMi-HO-^_-^iMa)Ooo 

rt rA f-H ' c4 1-H rA r-< CI r-H ci ci rt' S-j r-i O 

rHfO!MOrH-j<cooLr2-#or!-3oroco 

c4 r-4 CO C^i (m' rA rA ZD CI r— * ^^ O C^ O 



Soluble in water. 



r^CO'-HOOr J(CCOCJr-COO<MCO'^COr-H 

ci o ira oi co' 00 f^ <m' co" cr> ^" CO ir-^ >ri co' cd ■^" 



Inorc.inic matter. 



loco'^coc^iaico-t^-t*. 



Total. 



iM t- lO o o o o uo >ra o to CO t- in ci 00 o 

-1<COC0^Ht:J(i— (0-rJ<0-^t— lOr— l-tl.OCO^^ 

ci 1— < o ^-• -f c-i oi ci i— uo — ' CT' -f o i-- co O 



Insoluble in carbonate of soda. 



Soluble in carbon.ate of soda, 



C3 O O 00 o t- 

1— I en -t( CO CO c-i 
' o" o i.o r-' co' CO c-i ci >n co' r— ' co --< -t* co co 









^- c 



2 o 



■i= f- =; c '-' o . 



1^^_ 

^-s^^ 



Tc 



bo 









1^ & 

r- a' 

pqoQ 



^ rt 



^ > HH 



►5 . o 



o _g o 

2« a 






35 • 



a aiP^«hi;2i<lQ 



Pm <q PL, Ph 



■-(iMC0-<*ia«l:-0005Or-.(MC0-+liOOl:- 



156 



Ammonia. 



O O O i-^ o 



(M r-i ■-< CI 



•^^-^OD^HlOO'-IC-IC-lCO-^GOmi— tO<M 

Ofoc^m-ii^ooorcoooocnoiot-fn 

OOOrHOOi-ii-Hr-ir-JOl-JOi-JrHrH 



Total. 



Insoluble in water and car- 
bonate of soda. 



I:-Otr5COOTOOU5C^O«r>t-00 



Insol. in water but soluble 
in carbonate of soda. 



O O C5 C<I -^ o 



Soluble in water. 



OOOC<IC<lr-li— IOOOO©<MO 



Total. 



Insoluble in ^\•ater and car- 
bonate of soda . 



CO in CO CO ir- c)d CO 00 CO -^ CO o 05 c-i o t— 



Insol. in water but soluble 
in carbonate of soda. 



Soluble in water. 



1:- Ci ■— I C-l IM O 0> lO t- ^ >0 C-l 00 C-l I- Cl 

IC f— I fC O -* ># C<1 r^ lO O C^l ':t< CO_ •-; CO JC-_ 

o ci ci o fo CO t-' e<i ■— j •^ o vo I— < o ci cc 

C-l ^,-i,-lr-liOJr--*':t<^in)-*-i<rH 



O CO <M C^ 



CO CO CO IM r-H CO Ol 1 



6= = - = - = = - = = = = ^6^ 



CD 



tc 



0) 







o 


fe > 


O 


f^ o 


o" 


"t:^ 










M' 


^. i=i • 






bO 



7^ ^J^ 



.5 b o 



fpiz;' 






w = 



T! t> 



O -T-l 



t<^ 






157 






s 




< 


r^ 


w 


« 


PL( 






W 


o 


s 


#H 


o 


<, 








r/1 


fS 


M 


« 


f ) 




t:^ 


^ 


(^ 


<u 




«>, 


l^ 


w 


O 








)^ 


^ 


o 




p 


a. 


(-( 




o 


-« 




^ 


o 


ri 


o 




1 


i> 






1— 1 


« 






l-H 




W 


^ 


l-J 


■■w 


pq 




< 




H 


-s^ 



6 



Perccntairc' of potential ammonia 
calculated on the ortcan. matter. 



Potential ammonia. 



Matter soluble in water. 



-!j<(MCOC<lfO(MfCCOr-i-r)H»0 



CO<Mi— IC^irfJi— ifOfC 



lO mcvjir-oot— aot-io>oooooooiraC5 

r- C5 O C5 O C-) CC J:- i- 00 lO r-H t— _ Ji- CO lO 

i-H c<i (m' CO CO cfi r-A d tr- m c^i r—i cr> c-i i-- 



Inorganic matter. Total. 



Total. 



Insol . in carb. of soda. 



Sol. In carbonate of soda. 



rt ^^ 






P-i O '^ Pq- I 

£ 2 =3 pq ^ 



Ph 
t^ h4 I S I -d 



= "2 2« 



i-HMM-^iaor-oooc 



<M CO -* iC O t- 



158 



Percentage of potential am- 
monia calculated on the 
organic matter. 



c<i cq (m' ro <m' t1< t^' co i-h tJ< t-h ro r-i co m in 



Potential ammonia. 



Total. 




Insol. in water and in car- 
bonate of soda. 


^<>not-ooin£-c-^coooc<ioo— loco 


Insol. in water but soluble 
in carbonate of soda . 


rHIMC^lf— li-HCOO t-i-HC3 lO(Mt- 
^ 1— 1 (M 1— 1 rH 



Soluble in water. 



Cf) r-l CO 



Total. 



Insol. in water and in car- 
bonate of soda. 



Insol . in water, but soluble 
in carbonate of soda. 



Oi OO CO C5 CO CO O Cl O J^- O C-l ^ u-^ i.O 00 



Soluble in water. 



«s 



CO-Tj<!MCOTt<'^00mfCrH?O-*rHCflO>0O o 

C^i-H(M-rl(rHi— 1>— it-COC-t-mjtr-iOiOi-H E) 

3 

CO 

COC-lt-Omr— fCOO'^^H,— l(^CI5l:— CO CO 

Tj<t-C01:-0'rt<IM05>OC-10i— lOOCTSOi (^ 

e^J r-H i-J CO CO c-i i-J ■'^ -^ o 'd' c-i Tji c^ c<i lo O 
t-> 

■ .. .— . -2 

"S 

:::::::::::::::: a 

^ r .' ^ !! I ! I !.''.!!* ' "^ 
; : ! '3 

cj 

:::::::::::;:::: ^ 
; o 

:::::::::::::::: 2 

! ! ca 

: : : : : '3 

: • o 

::.:::::::::::: a 

: : : : a 

I :::::::: \ :: :>^ « 

£5- :: =^= = = = = = = = ::^;^ _6 ;| 

^ S g- -r o S'O § 1 

|_K§ a p-S.Hcgb.2 

|- - &^= = ^= = tW§.s3§ 'S 

c -c 5^ .-- W '^ S c-^ S § 

■&-' = J^- . -S. _ >;fe-S'||3 i 

6= = o &- = ^, - ^o t^ c g > > 

00 ci o ^ im' CO -"^ m' CO t^ 00 05 © ■—< c^i co 

i-li-IIMlM<MC<«C-»IMMeS(MCSC0C0COC0 



bo 



Pi 



COMMERCIAL FEPJILIZEES. 



SCALE'- OF PRICES. 

The valuation of the chief ingredients of commercial fertilizers remains as in my 
First Report, and is as follows : 

Potash, 4 cts. per lb. 

Insoluble phosphoric acid, 4i- " 

Soluble " " Ul " 

Ammonia 14 " 



THE QUINNIPIAC COMPANY S FISH MANURE. 

In March, 1858, I was consulted by tlie Quinnipiac Company 
of AValliiigford, Conn., with reference to a fish manure which 
they manufacture, and obtained their consent to puhhsh the re- 
sult of the analj'ses that were made. Nothing is more obvious 
thai\ that the true interests of the manufacturer and of the farmer 
are identical, and equally promoted as well by an exposure of 
what is worthless, as by commendation of what is useful. The 
Quinnipiac Company employed me to analyze their fish manure 
in order to ascertain definitely for themselves, how it compares 
with standard fertilizers, and are willing that I should pronounce 
public judgment on it according to its merits. 

The quality and price of the fish manure is such that it de- 
serves to be commended to our farmers ; especially since, as I 
am credibly informed, the Company bears a high reputation, 
which is a guaranty that they will continue to manufacture an 
article as good as they have submitted for analysis. 



9.67 


9.63 


67.78 


65.68 


2.05 


1.96 


8.76 




3.38 


3.41 


.81 


.33 


8.36 


8.23 


$32.00 per ton. 


$31.40 per ton. 



160 

Analysis. 
Water, _ . . . 

Organic (animal) matter, - 
Sand, - - - - - 

Lime, - . . _ . 

Soluble phosplioric acid. 
Insoluble " " - 

Ammonia yielded by animal matter - 
Calculated value. 
Manufacturer's price, 

This manure is not so rich either in phosphoric acid or in 
ammonia as the best qualities of fish manure ; but it is never- 
theless entitled to a high rank among concentrated fertilizers. 
It yields fully one-half as much ammonia as the best Peruvian 
guano, and nearly all the phosphoric acid it contains is in a form 
soluble in water. 

The calculated value is estimated from the prices adopted in 
my First Annual Eeport. 

The manure is sold by measure. The Comj^any inform me 
that it weighs 35 pounds, and is sold at 55 cents, per struck 
bushel. From these figures the price per ton, as given above, 
is reckoned. 

The mechanical condition is very good. In employing this 
manure it must be borne in mind that, like Peruvian guano, it 
is capable o*f supplying only a part of the wants of vegetation, 
so that the use of some phosphatic manure and of leached ashes, 
muck or stable manure, with it, will be better economy in fiiost 
cases than depending on it alone. 

The manufacturers recommend to apply it to Indian corn, for 
example, either broadcast at the rate of 20 to 40 bushels per 
acre or 3 bushels in the hill. It is doubtless generally the best 
plan to manure the plant rather than the soil, i. e., if a crop 
grows in hills or drills, to manure in the hill or drill ; if the crop 
is sown broadcast, manure in the same manner. If I understand 
rightly, a much larger application in the hill than three bushels 
per acre, is likely to prove detrimental. 

It is to be hoped that this successful attempt to manufacture 
a substitute for Peruvian guano in our own State, will meet 



161 

witli such encouragement as to make fisli manure a staple fertili- 
ze. With the stimulus of abundant patronage, this kind of 
manure can be prepared of better quality and furnished at a 
less price ; while if judiciously used, it cannot fail to improve 
our lands permanently, at the same time that it yields better 
yearly crops. 

THE GEEEN SAND MARL OF NEW JERSEY. 

In the Spring of 1858 I was informed that the "New Jersey 
Fertilizer Company " intended shipping to this State some car- 
goes of this material, and although I am not aware that their 
intention has been carried out as yet, there is apparently no rea- 
son why the Green Sand Marl may not become an article of 
commerce between Connecticut and New Jersey, and I therefore 
communicate to the public such account of its nature and use as 
I have been able to collect. 

The Green Sand Marl is a peculiar geological deposit, met 
with in various parts of this and other countries, but most largely 
developed in the State of New Jersey, where it occupies or un- 
derlies an area of 900 square miles. This tract extends from 
Sandy Hook south westwardly to Salem, on the Delaware Eiver, 
a distance of ninety miles, and is six to fourteen miles in breadth. 
It is only in a few localilies, however, that it is found on the sur- 
face of the earth ; it being overlaid with soil throughout the 
great share of this vast district. It has long been known that 
this marl, as it is called, is exceedingly useful as a fertilizer when 
a]3plied upon the contiguous lands. The discovery is said to 
have been made by accident, and the effects were so striking, 
that in those parts of New Jersey, where it is easily accessible, 
it is now one of the chief reliances of the farmer. 

The deposit of green sand marl has a variable thickness, and 
is by no means uniform in appearance. It often has a fine green 
color. This color is due to the green sand which is its charac- 
teristic ingredient. Often, and indeed generally, the color of the 
marl is greenish-gray or brown, from an admixture of clay and 
other substances. The green sand itself occurs in the form of 
grains like gunpowder. These grains are brown externally, if 
they have been exposed to the air, owing to the higher oxyda- 
tion (or rusting,) of the protoxyd of iron contained in them : 



162 

but if waslied or broken, tlieir proper green color is always man- 
ifested. This color enables us to distinguish the green sand from 
all other sands bj the eye alone. 

The green sand has a nearly uniform composition, and hence 
is considered a distinct mineral, and for the sake of distinction 
is called Olauconiie (which means "sea-green stone,") by the 
mineralogists. 

In virtue of its composition and easy decomposability, green 
sand is an excellent fertilizer. 

Its average composition in 100 parts is : 

Silica, 49.5 

Alumina, ----- 7.3 

Protoxyd of Iron, .... 22.8 

Potash, - - - - - 11.5 

Water, ..... 7.9 

Lime, . . - . . .5 

Magnesia, ----- trace. 

On account of its finel}^ divided state, when freel}' exposed to 

the air and water of the soil it gradually decomposes, and its 

potash, silica and protoxj^d of iron become soluble, or at any 

rate available to vegetation. The protoxyd of iron which is 

useful in small quantity, but detrimental if largely present in the 

soil, is prevented from accumulatiDg to excess by the fact that it 

rapidly absorbs oxygen from the air, and passes into peroxj'd 

(iron rust.) Theperoxyd of iron and alumina together with. the 

silica, are important means of increasing the power of the 

soil to absorb and retain manures. 

Many sandy and light soils are deficient in potash, and hence 
the green sand is useful when applied to them. It has indeed 
been supposed that this fertilizer owes its efficiency chiefly to its 
large content of potash. The other ingredients that we have 
mentioned are, however, useful to a greater or less degree. 

Not (Jtily the green sand itself, but likewise the other matters 
whicli, with it, make up the marl, must be taken account of in 
considering its fertilizing value. The admixtures of clay, quartz 
sand, etc., are quite variable, ranging in quantity from 10 to 60 
per cent, of the whole ; thus more or less reducing the amount 
of manurial matters, and at the same time either improving or 



163 

injuring the general composition by their own accidental ingre- 
dients. 

The clay mixed with or overlying the green sand, in many 
localities contains quantities of a shining yellow mineral called 
iron pyrites or "fool's gold," which consists of iron and sulphur, 
and by exposure to the atmosphere is converted into sulphate of 
iron, (common copperas or green vitriol.) From this source the 
marl is sometimes so impregnated with sulphate of iron as to be 
destructive to vegetation when applied fresh from the pits. This 
difficulty is not, however, general, so far as I can learn, and in 
all cases is obviated by exposing the marl for a year or so to the 
weather, and by composting it with lime or with stable manure. 
By these means the iron is changed from the protoxyd to the 
peroxyd, which latter is harmless under all circumstances. 

In some localities the marl is mixed with a large proportion 
of fragments of shells, and thus contains considerable carbonate 
and a small amount of phosphate of lime. Sulphate of lime or 
plaster, is also an occasional ingredient. 

The following analyses copied from Professor Cook's Eeport 
on the Geology of New Jersey, clearly show the nature and ex- 
tent of the variations in composition, to which the marl as em- 
ployed for agricultural purposes is subject. 

Analyses J^ 





1 


2 


3 


4 5 6 


Protoxyd of iron, 


8.3 


16.8 


21.3 


14.9 


Alumina, 


- 6.1 


Q.Q 


8.0 




Lime, 


. 2.4: 


12.5 


1.0 




Magnesia, 


A 


2.6 


2.0 




Potash, 


2.5 


4.9 


7.1 


7.1 4.3 3.7 


Soluble silica. 


- 20.2 


81.2 


46.9 




Insoluble silica and sand. 


49.9 


5.6 


4.0 




Sulphuric acid. 


.9 


.6 


.4 




Phosphoric acid, 


1.4 


1.1 


1.3 


.2 2.6 6.9 


Carbonic, " 


.2 


9.3 






Water, 


7.1 


8.9 


8.1 




Soluble in water. 


. 1.9 


1.4 


1.1 


1.1 1.9 4.7 



* In copying the analyses, the decmials of the percentages have been abridged 
from two figures to one. 

11 



164 

Potasli it is seen ranges from 2^ to 7 per cent. The average 
is about 41^ per cent. One of the specimens is half sand and in- 
soluble matters. No. 2 contains 12|^ per cent, of lime, and 9 per 
cent, of carbonic acid, or 21 per cent, of carbonate of lime. Phos- 
phoric acid is almost wanting in No. 4 ; but in No. 6 exists to 
the amount of 7 per cent. The usual quantity of phosphoric 
acid however, does not exceed 1 to 2 per cent. 

From the compositiofi of the gTcen sand marl we might know 
that it is a good manure without any actual trials ; but the expe- 
rience of the New Jersey farmers during many years has so 
fully demonstrated its value, that the question arises — may it not 
be procured and transported so cheaply as to admit of profitable 
use in this State? The following quotation from Professor 
Cook's Eeport may serve to assist us in answering this question. 

" The absolute worth of the marl to farmers it is diflicult to 
estimate. The region of country in which it is found has been 
almost made by it. Before its use the soil was exhausted, and 
much of the land had so lessened in value that its price was but 
little, if any more than that of government lands at the West ; 
while now, by the use of the marl, these worn out soils have 
been brought to more than native fertility, and the value of the 
land increased from fifty to a hundred fold. In these districts 
as a general fact, the marl has been obtained at little more than 
the cost of digging and hauling but a short distance. There are 
instances however, in which large districts of worn out land have 
been entirely renovated by the use of these substances, though 
situated from five to fifteen miles from the marl beds, and when, 
if a fair allowance is made for labor, the cost per bushel could 
not have been less than from twelve to sixteen cents. Instances 
are known when it has been thought remunerative at twenty- 
five cents per bushel." 

The New Jersey Fertilizer Company deliver the marl on board 
vessels at their wharf at Portland Heights, N. J., for seven cents 
per bushel. The bushel when first raised weighs 100 lbs. ; when 
dry 80 lbs. I doubt not that the average qualities of this marl 
are better bushel for bushel, than leached ashes. The best kinds 
are much superior, and in the inferior sorts there is much more 
weight of valuable fertilizing matters than in an equal bulk of 



165 

leached ashes ; but this advantage has its offset in the superior 
fineness, and consequent greater activity of the leached ashes. 
If then the expenses of transportation are small, as they are 
when large quantities are shipped, there is no reason why our 
farmers, who are located near tide water, may not use this fertil- 
izer to great advantage, especially if they can have a good arti- 
cle guaranteed them. 

The marl is especially useful for potatoes and root crops, but 
on poor soils is good for any crop. It is applied at the rate of 
one to two hundred bushels per acre. ' 

''animalized phosphate of lime." 
A specimen of the so-called " Animalized Phosphate of Lime," 
made by Hartley & Co., of Plymouth, Conn., received from Mr. 
Dyer, was analyzed with the following results, per cent.: 

Water, ...... 5^3 

Sand and silica, - . - . . 33^2 

Organic and volatile matter, - - - - 8.61 

Hydrated sulphate of lime, (unburned plaster,) '- 55.50 

Carbonate of lime, - - - - . 13.03 

Magnesia, - - - - ." - ■ 1,77 

Oxyd of iron, alumina and phosphoric acid, - - 1.76 

Carbonic acid (combined with alkalies,) - - 1.03 

Alkalies, chlorine and loss, - - . - 4,00 



100.00 
Ammonia yielded by organic matter, - - 0.33 0.35 
The analysis is not fully carried out, separate determinations 
of the quantity of phosphoric acid and of potash not havino- 
been made. The phosphoric acid cannot amount to more than 
1|- per cent., the potash not more than 3 per cent. These quan- 
tities are of small account in a high-priced fertilizer. To finish 
the analysis in these particulars would serve no important use. 

I find by a simple calculation that a manure equal, and indeed 
superior to the above, in composition and value, weigbj; for 
weight, may be made after the following recipe : 
60 pounds of ground plaster. 
37 " hard wood ashes (unleached.) 

3 " Peruvian guano. 



166 

Sucli a mixture can be manufactured at a profit for $10 per 
per ton, and if I do not greatly mistake, most farmers can get 
the ingredients for $5 to $7 per ton. 

This article claims to be " made from the bones, blood and 
flesli of animals, digested in acid liquors, and dessicated with 
various saline fertilizers, in such a manner that all the valuable 
gases and salts are retained in a dry powder." It is seen that 
the quantity of " various saline fertilizers," is so large compared 
with the "bones, blood and flesh of animals," that the result is 
comparatively worthless commercially speaking. When we con- 
sider that 75 to 80 per cent, of a dead animal is water, it is easy 
to understand that it requires careful manufacturing to make a 
concentrated manure from the carcasses of horses, &c. 

It is usual to employ oil-of-vitriol to decompose and deodorize 
animal matters in preparing manures. This is very well, but if 
a large quantity of cheap materials are afterward mixed up with 
the product, the value of the whole becomes so reduced, that 
the expense of manufacturing is a dead loss to the farmer who 
in the end pays for it, in case the manure finds a market. 

If the sample furnished me represents the average quality of 
this manure, it may be confidently asserted that those who pay 
for it $50 per ton, (the manufacturers price,) will lose the better 
share of their money. 

PEKUVIAN GJJANO. 
From the store of Wm. Kellogg^ Hartford. 
Water, . - . . . 

Organic matter, • - - ' - 

Total ammonia, . . . - 

Phosphoric acid, soluble in water, - 

" " insoluble in water, - 

Sand, ..... 

Calculated value, $61.20. 

The above figures show that this fertilizer maintains its uni- 
formity and excellence of composition to a remarkable degree. 
The soluble phosphoric acid, it should be remembered, is equal 
in (pantity to the average amount of this ingredient in our com- 



17.22 


17.41 


49.44 


49.60 


16.32 


16.38 


2.32 


2.32 


11.03 


10.81 


1.90 


2.07 



167 

mercial superpliospliates, and is accompanied witli two to three 
per cent, of potash, which, though of trifling commercial value 
by the side of ammonia, is nevertheless of great manurial worth 
on the light soils where guano is most often applied. 

ELIDE GUANO. 

This is an article that purports to come from the coast of Cal- 
ifornia. It is a genuine guano, similar though inferior to Peru- 
vian. It is afforded at two-thirds the price of Peruvian, and an 
analysis is of much interest as showing its real commercial value. 
It appears from the analyses of other chemists that this guano 
is quite variable in composition, at least so far as the quantity of 
moisture is concerned. I give some of the results of Dr. Stew- 
art, chemist to the Maryland Agricultural Society, and of Dr. 
Deck, of New York, by way of comparison. I should say with 
regard to its texture, that at first sight it is rather unpromising, 
containing some genuine stones and a good many hard lumps 
that are diflicult to crush unless they are dried. 

A mechanical anal}- sis gave per cent, : 
Fine portion passing a sieve of 20 holes per inch, - 74 

Lumps easily reduced after drying, - - 22 

Pebbles, - - ' - - - - 4 

100.00 
When dried, however, the whole is as easily crushed as Peru- 
vian guano, the pebbles of course excepted. 

The analysis of the whole, rejecting the pebbles only, is given 
under I. Under II. are figures from Dr. Stewart's, and under 

III. from Dr. Deck's analysis. 

I. 

Water, - - 27.34 27.60 

Organic and volatile matter, 89.20 88.75 

•(Yielding ammonia,) (10.00) (10.06) 

Phos. acid soluble in water, 5.07 5.31 

" " insol. in water, 6AQ 6.25 

Sulphuric acid, - - 4.91 

Lime, - - - 9.67 9.36 

Potash and a little soda, 5.52 9.60 

Sand and insoluble matters, 2.50 2.52 4.70 3.24 
Calculated value, $46.60, or including the potash $50. 



II. 


III. 


18.90 


22.64 


43.30 


43.53 


(9.39) 


(11.46) 


11.00 





168 ' 

The high percentage of soluble pliosplioric acid depends upon 
tlie presence of potasli and soda. 

It must be borne in mind that this manure is considerably- 
variable in composition, and is so moist that it may easily dete- 
riorate by keeping. 

The specimen I have analyzed is considerably cheaper than 
Peruvian guano. It remains to be seen, however, whether oth- 
er cargoes or other lots are equal to this, before the reputation of 
the Elide guano can be established. 

SUPERPHOSPHATES OF LIME. 

But four specimens of this manure have been analyzed this 
year. Two of these, I. and II., were from the store of Messrs. 
Backus and Barstow, Norwich ; the others. III. and lY., from 
Wm. Kellogg, Hartford. 





I. 


II. 


III. 


IV. 




Pike & Co. 


Coe & Co. 


Greene & 


Coe's. 




av. 10 b'gs. 


av. 25 b'gs. 


Preston. 


Water, organic & vol. matters, 


38.50 38.50 36.55 36.15 


32.96—32.28 40.85—41.25 


Sand, 


28.85 28.80 2. 70 2.80 


2.45— 2.80 6.05— 5.95 


Soluble phosphoric acid, 


1.98 2.22.2.85 2.92 


2.28— 2.43 2.62— 1.70 


Insoluble, " " 


2.29 2.08 18.13 11.78 


19.12—17.64 15.70—16.30 


Ammonia, 


2.44 2.45 3.14 3.11 


1.39— 1.39 2.97— 2.74 


Calculated value, - 


$14.00 


$32.00 


$26.31 


$37.81^ ton 



I. Is seen to be a very inferior article ; more than one-quarter 
of it (28 per cent) is sand/ This fact indicates that it is most 
probably some manufacturing refuse. The calculated value "will 
give the farmer an idea how much he can afford to pay for it ; 
but manures so largely mixed with sand, cannot be carefully- 
prepared ; and as other samples may contain much more sand, 
it is best not to buy this manure at all unless on an analysis. 

II. III. and IV. are all fair samples of " superphosphates," as 
that word is now used, though none of them contain appreciably- 
more 5oZ?(&Zep/;as/:)72or/c «c/c/ than Peruvian guano. It seems, as 
yet, impossible to find a real superphosphate (yielding 10-15 per 
cent, of soluble phosphoric acid) in the Connecticut market. 

The above analyses do not accord very closely in some partic- 
ulars. This is due to the fact that the samples were too moist 



169 

to allow of intimate mixture. The sliglit differences are, how- 
ever, of no importance in estimating the value of these articles. 

All these specimens were in good mechanical condition. The 
first sample of Coe's superphosphate is of the same quality which 
it has hitherto possessed. The analyses of it read almost pre- 
cisely like those made last year ; but there is some falling off in 
the other sample IV., in which the percentages of sand and 
water are both somewhat larger, and all the active ingredients 
are accordingly reduced in proportion. 

The difference in value between II. and IV. amounts to $4.20 
per ton. 

Green & Preston's is still inferior to IV. chiefly from contain- 
ing less ammonia. 

CASTOR PUMMACE. 

Messrs. Baker, Latourette & Co., 142 Water St., New York 
City, manufacturers of linseed and castor oils, have recently un- 
dertaken the new enterprise of importing the castor bean from 
India, and expressing the oil from it in New York. The cake 
or pummace remaining from this operation, has been found to 
possess valuable fertilizing properties, and is already employed 
as a manure in England. I have been employed to analyze the 
castor pummace, and it has turned out so satisfactorily, that in 
my opinion it will be doing the members of the State Society a 
service, to communicate the results, and do so herewith, having 
obtained permission of the manufacturers. 

Analysis. 

Water, ...... 9.24 

Oil, 18.02 

Woody fibre and mucilage, - - - - 38.29 

Nitrogenous bodies (albumen, etc.,) - - 28.81 

Ash, - 6.14 

100.00 



170 

In the ash were found — 

Sand, ...... 0.75 

Lime, ...... 0.36 

Phosplioric acid, - - - - - 2.04 

Alkalies with a little magnesia, sulphuric and carb. acids, 2.09 

6.14 

The amount of nitrogen in the nitrogenous bodies was found 
to be 4.32 per cent., corresponding to 5.48 per cent, of potential 
ammonia. 

On account of the purgative effect of the castor oil, the pum- 
mace cannot be employed as food for cattle, and its whole agri- 
cultural value must consist in its fertilizing applications. 

Its worth commercially considered, lies exclusively* in its 
content of phosphoric acid and ammonia. Its calculated value, 
using the prices adopted in my first annual report, viz., foiir and 
a half cents per pound for insoluble phosphoric acid, and four- 
teen cents per pound for ammonia, is $17.20 per ton (2000 lbs.) 

The manufacturers inform me that hitherto they have sent the 
castor pummace to England, where it commands a price of £4 
10s. sterling per ton (the English ton of 2240 pounds I suppose.) 
They now intend bringing it into the home market, and there 
seems no reason why we cannot use it to as good advantage as 
English farmers can, if it is afforded at a fair price.f 

The pummace is not hard like linseed-cake, but easily crum- 
bles to pieces, and is sufficiently fine to be convenient in appli- 
cation. 

It belongs to what are usually termed the stimulating manures, 
and is rapid in action, usually spending itself in one season. 

It may be applied directly to the soil and harrowed in, or used 
in the preparation of composts. I should judge it would be 
found exceedingly servicable in composting muck, etc. 

Some caution must be exercised in the use of this class of 

» 

* The opinion has been entertained tliat oil is a fertilizer ; but numerous careful 
trials made in England and elsewhere have proved that pure oil is quite inert, and 
only such impure oils as contain nitrogenous animal matters produce any percepti- 
ble effects. 

f I see by the advertisements of Messrs. Baker & Co., that they sell castor pum- 
mace at from $12 to $16 per ton, according to the quality. It is a cheap manure. 



171 

manures, because their action is so powerful that in very heavy 
doses they may overforce the crop, or even destroy the seed 
when put in contact with it at the time of planting. It has been 
asserted that the content of oil of the oil-cakes hinders the germ- 
ination of seeds, by preventing access of water to them. I am 
inclined to believe however, that their detrimental action is due 
to their readiness of decomposition, whereby the seed is caused 
to rot. In fact there are only a few instances on record of their 
occasioning this sort of injury, and in these they appear to have 
been applied in very large quantity. We can estimate the proper 
allowance per acre of castor pummace, by comparing its per 
cent, of ammonia with that of guano. It contains just about 
one-third as much of this ingredient, and accordingly we may 
safely use three times as much of it. We know that 600 pounds 
of guano per acre is a very large manuring, and 200 or 300 
pounds is usually the most profitable in the long run. These 
quantities correspond to 1800, 600 and 900 respectively of cas- 
tor pummace. I find that the largest doses of rape cake, (a 
manure of almost identical composition, rather inferior in amount 
of ammonia perhaps) given in English and Saxon husbandry, 
are 1500 to 2000 pounds per acre, while 600 to 800 pounds are 
the customary applications. More is needed on heavy than on 
light soils. 

It is frequently urged as an objection to manures of this sort 
that they exhaust the soil. It is however always the crops that 
are removed, and never the manure applied, which exhausts the 
soil. The exclusive and continued use of this or any simi- 
lar fertilizer will be followed by exhaustion ; but by judiciously 
alternating or combining it with mineral manures, as wood ashes 
leached or unleached. New Jersey green-sand, superphosphate 
of lime, or phosphatic guano, it may be used with safety and 
advautao-e. 



172 



BONE DUST AND BONE-MEAL. 



These articles from the store of Wm. Kellogg, Hartford, have 
been analyzed with results as follows : 

Bone Dust. Bone Meal. 

Water, - - - 8.75 8.40 10.25 9.10 

Organic matter, - - 27.25 27.27 26.02 27.55 

Sand, - - - - 5.37 5.30 .10 .30 

Earthy phosphates, - 45.32 45.32 67.39 57.13 

Carbonate of lime as loss, - 13.31 13.71 6.24 5.92 



100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 
Potential ammonia, 2.98 3.00 4.25 4.28 

Of the bone dust a more extended analysis was made, in 
which the amount of phosphoric acid was determined with more 
accuracy than in the above analyses. It was undertaken on 
account of the high percentage of carbonate of lime indicated, 
but not satisfactorily proved to be present by the first examina- 
tions. It confirms them as the following results show : 

Bone Dust. 

"Water, ...... 8.75 

Organic matter, . . _ . - 27.25 

Sand, - - - - . - - 5.37 

Lime, ...... 29.37 

Oxyd of iron, - - - - - .52 

Magnesia, - - ■ - - - - 1.16 

Phosphoric acid, - • - - - - 21.56 

Carbonic acid (as loss,) ... - 6.02 



100.00 



The bone meal is of the kind used for feeding, and is a very 
finely-divided white and pure article, consisting apparently of 
turnings of bone, and is well adapted for its purpose. 

The bone dust is obviously ground from bones that have been 
boiled^ or steamed to extract their fat, and have also parted with 



173 

a portion of cartilage (animal tissue,) as is evident from the small 
percentage of potential ammonia. 

In the collection of the bones, no great care has been taken to 
remove adhering dirt and sand, for we find more than five per 
cent, of this impurity. There is also thirteen and a half per 
cent, of carbonate of lime, which is more by five or six per cent. 
than is usually found in steamed or boiled bones. When we 
compare the composition of the dust with that of the meal, the 
latter representing pure bone, we find that there is a difference 
of twelve per cent, of phosphates (nearly six per cent, of phos- 
phoric acid,) and one and a quarter per cent, of potential ammo- 
nia. Doubtless there has been no intentional adulteration prac- 
tised on this bone dust ; but it is not quite so pure as it ought 
to be. The sample is hardly so fine as to deserve the name of 
dust, as it contains a good share of unground fragments. Few 
of these, however, would not pass a sieve wath eight holes to 
the linear inch, and it is therefore in a good form for use. 

A few words with regard to the use of bone meal for feeding. 
"When employed for this purpose, bone meal is intended to sup- 
ply, especially to milch cows, the lack of phosphates in the food. 
It appears pretty well established that the soil of many pasture 
lands may become so exhausted of phosphoric acid, that the 
herbage does not yield to cows, enough of this ingredient for 
the proper nutriment of their bony system, and at the same time 
supply the large demand for phosphates made by the milk secre- 
ting organs. Cows thus poorly fed, turn instinctively to the 
proper remedy, and neglect no opportunity to gnaw upon any 
old bones they may be able to find. The results of continued 
feeding on such poor pastures, are a loss. of health on the part 
of the cow^s, especially manifested in a weakening or softening 
of the bones — the hone disease, that is not now uncommon in our 
older dairy districts. It is found, if we may rely on the expe- 
rience of our best farmers, that this evil "can be partially reme- 
died by directly feeding finely ground bone meal to the cows." 
Other phosphates have been found to answer the same purpose, 
and doubtless the cheapest materials for this purpose are some of 
the "rock guanos" now common in our markets. The true 
remedy for bone disease, however, consists not in dosing the an- 



174 

imal, but in so improving the soil that it shall produce a perfect 
food. A liberal application of some phosphatic manure is the 
obvious resort in extreme cases where the soil is absolutely de- 
ficient in phosphoric acid ; but in my opinion there are few soils 
in New England (always excepting mere sand barrens) that do 
not originally contain enough of all the mineral food of plants, 
to yield perfectly nutritious fodder for an indefinitely long period, 
without the necessity for outlay in commercial or concentrated 
fertilizers, if they are brought into the proper physical condi- 
tions and manured with all the dung and urine that can be pro- 
duced on them. 



APPENDIX. 



SOMBRERO GUANO. 

So far as present data afford the means of judging, the Som- 
brero guano is the cheapest, and in composition the richest and 
most uniform of the phosphatic guanos. It comes from an island 
in the Caribbean, where it occurs as a porous rock of a yellow- 
ish white, pink or brown color, which, though quite firm in the 
mass, may yet be easily reduced to a fine powder. 

This rock guano has been formed, doubtless, from the excre- 
ments of sea-fowl, which, exposed to alternate rains and sun, 
have entirely lost their animal matters, and soluble salts ; and 
by processes familiar to the geologist, have left finally a cemented 
and hardened residue of phosphates of lime, magnesia and iron. 
This guano is of the same general character as the Columbian 
guano, which was in market some years ago, and much of the 
American guano now imported has a similar rock-like character. 

The first importation into this State was made in the early 
part of this year (1859,) per schr. Telegraph, by Messrs. J. M. 
Huntington & Co., of Norwich ; and in June the same house re- 
ceived another cargo by the schr. "Ik. Marvel." 

I have analyzed eight samples, viz. : of the first importation : 

I. From Backus and Barstow, Norwich, ground sample. 

II. From the importers. Average made by myself from a 
large number of rock-specimens. 

III. Ground guano from Backus k Barstow, Hartford. 
And from the second cargo : 

lY. A rock sample of the tvhite variety. 

Y. Ditto of the buff. 

YI. Ditto of the pinJc. 

YII. Ground sample obtained by me from the mills at Norwich. 

YIII. Furnished by Wm. B. Johnson & Co of New Haven. 

The analyses are given in the following table : 



176 



I 




c-i 


CO 


in 


c^ 


^ 
















C-J 


o 


^ 


C-l 


■^ 
















j^ 


id 


t 


i--^ 


' 








cjs 


05 


t—H 










CO 


CO 








UO 


^ 


HH 




















00 


CO 






o 


o 


in 


o 


CO 








o 


IM 


t-^ 




C-J 


o 
o 


c^ 


in 

d 

CO 


CO 

CO 










4fi= 






o 


CD 


o 


CO 


rt< 


o 


in 


o 










o 


lO 


CO 


CD 


uo 


^ 


m 


o 










£-^ 


lO 


f-^ 


d 


f^ 


^ 


d 


d 
















CO 


CO 






o 


o 


CO 


M 


















r-t 


C5 


C-: 


H- ( 
























P> 




(M 


<M 


o 


CJ 


CO 


o 


■^ 


o 


oo' 

CD 


CO 






L.-5 


cri 


in 


^ 


"*. 


-* 


d 


o 


■€©= 






l^- 


Ki 


1-4 


d 

CO 


CO 


Tji 


d 


d 
o 










O 


00 


o 


CO 


M 


o 


r-H 


~d~ 










M 


<M 


C3 




-t- 


CO 


00 


o 










no 


CO 


,~-i 


00 


in 


CO 


d 


d 








, : 








CO 


CO 




1— t 


o 


CO 


i^- 


>-5 


















>—< 


C2 


Ci 


>■ 


Jt- 


o 


in 


in 


-* 


OJ 


^ 


o 


d 


CO 




r-H 


ro 


J:-; 


CO 


CO 


<M 


<M 


o 






CO 


CD 


f— ^ 


co' 


in 


CO 


,-H 


d 














CO 


CO 




'"' 


o 










o 


J^ 


o 


CO 


o 


CIS 


^^ 


o 












CO 


cq 


cs 






I— ' 


o 










c^' 


"*■ 


l-J 


in 


~i< 


■^' 


t-' 


d 








t^ 








Tt< 


CO 






o 


CD 


o 




Pm 
















r-t 


CO 


CO 


> 




ir- 


lO 


in 


o 


CD 


C5 


co 


o 


in 


CO 




r— 


JT- 


in 


o 


CO 


i-H 


o 


o 






c^ 


'* 


j-^ 


-#■ 


rH 


rt! 


d 


d 














-* 


CO 






o 










IM 


o 


o 


C<l 


CO 


-* 


05 


o 










O 


in 


'^ 


CO 


CO 


o 


ir-; 


o 










C^ 


CO 


o 


d 


Jt^ 


in 




d 








c4 








'^ 


CO 






o 


in 


m 


> 

1— 1 


^ 
















F-H 


JT- 


o 


3 


J^ 


lO 


in 


^ 


CO 


Tt< 


in 


o 


oa 


CO 

CO 




^ 


lO 


CT5 


CO 


in 


CD 


o 


o 


o 






c<i 


oi 


d 


d 


X— ' 


in 




d 














TjH 


CO 






o 










-* 


J-^ 


j^ 


in 


,—^ 


















CO 


in 


o 


tr- 
















00 


■* 


d 


d 


ee 








^ 


1—1 


1— ; 










rt< 


CO 








(M_ 


Ttl 


fl^ 




o 


o 


CD 


en 


CO 








co' 


d 






o 


C-l 


in 


CM 


CO 








X- 


CO 

0^ 






CO 


-*■ 


d 


d 


co" 




















-* 


CO 
















o 


^^ 


o 


o 


CO 


, 














C) 


CD 


in 


CM 


CO 
















o 


>d 


d 


in 


d 








OD 


^ 


1— ; 










Tt< 


CO 








CO_ 


■"1 


p— * 




o 


lO 


(M 


Cl 


-# 








d 


CO 

CO 






C~) 


'^ 


in 


in 


o 








■^ 


^ 






o 


in 


d 


in 


CO 
















CO 




o 


m 


o 
















o 




CO 


in 


o 
















OJ 




d 




d 








o 
in 


CD_ 


1— i 










CD 


in 
in 
in 

CO 








co' 

1:- 


im' 

CO 



^ '^ 



s 1^ 



a a 



o ^ 



177 

This guano is sold at $30 per ton, and as the price of the best 
samples nearly readies this figure when calculated with the val- 
uation of phosphoric acid at 4 cents per pound, I was led to 
hope that' we were warranted in estimating the price of this sub- 
stance at 4 instead of 4|- cents per pound, as has been previously 
done. The analyses, however, show that this guano is liable to 
contain a not inconsiderable amount (8 per cent.) of moisture, 
and thus the percentage of phosphoric acid is somewhat reduced. 

It is seen that the ground saniples are not quite so rich in 
phosphoric acid as the unbroken lumps. This is due to two 
causes. 1st. There is unavoidably introduced into the cargo a 
certain amount of fine soil and other worthless matters during 
the loading of the vessel. 2d. The guano is impregnated with 
salt water, and the chlorids of sodium, calcium and magnesium 
thus introduced into it, rapidly absorb moisture from the air 
when the guano is ground, especially if the weather be damp. 
I have found that these ground samples when put into a perfectly 
dry atmosphere, at ordinary temperatures, lose six to seven per 
cent, of moisture in twenty-four hours, and recover it again in 
an equal time if exposed to moist air. The analyses III., VII. 
and VIII. show that the maximum amount of moisture is seven 
to eight per cent. 

It is seen then that the Sombrero guano has withstood the 
most severe tests, and may be relied upon, especially since the 
importers use great care to select a pure material, and to reject the 
worthless or inferior rocks which occur with the native deposits. 

The old notion that a good manure must have a bad smell is 
still entertained, even among very intelligent farmere. I have 
had the pleasure of giving my testimony personally against this 
j)rejudice, to some of them in reference to this guano, and it 
may not be useless here to repeat that " not all which stinks is 
good for manure, and not all which is good for manure stinks !" 
Asafcetida is no fertilizer, and plaster or lime, which everybody 
knows to be good manures, are almost entirely destitute of odor. 
So this guano is a powerful fertilizer when used where there is 
need of it ; though it has no more smell than sand. 

It has been questioned whether these rock phosphates really 
possess the fertilizing value which is deduced from their content 



178 

of pliosphoric acid. Experience has proved that the crystalized, 
or the more compact massive varieties of phosphorite (native 
phosphate of lime,) are very inefficient, or in some cases quite 
inert when used in coarse powder. This fact is due to their 
density and want of porosity, in consequence of which they are 
very slowly soluble. 

The notion that there is a difference in the value of phos- 
phates coming from mineral or organic sources, a difference; de- 
pending upon the simple fact of origin, and that a phosphate or 
other plant food, is made more efficacious as a fertilizer, by hav- 
ing been a constituent of an animal or plant, is merely ridiculous, 
and is not supported by a single fact. 

This doctrine of the "Progression of Primaries," as it has 
been termed, though vigorously advocated by the Working 
Farmer, is daily disproved by agricultural experience. 

If these phosphates are acted upon by sulphuric acid, they 
yield a superphosphate which is as beneficial as any, and the 
only question of the activity of this Sombrero guano lies in its 
solubilit}'-, or what amounts to the same thing, its* fineness. 

The rock, as I have said, is for the most part extremely 
porous, and easily ground to powder when once reduced to small 
fragments. It is furthermore somewhat dissolved by pure water, 
and, in fact, to a greater extent than bone-ash, this being due to 
its containing the intermediate or neutral pliospliate of lime. 

From these considerations, I should not hesitate to believe that 
this guano would prove a sufficiently active phosphatic fertilizer, 
when used alone, in soils not altogether too dry or deficient in 
vegetable matter. The recommendation of the importers to use 
it in conjunction with Peruvian guano is one that will be found 
advantageous. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



0DD57t.EmflA 



